More German tourists expected to visit Malaysia
BERLIN: Based on the increase in German tourist arrivals to Malaysia from 57,780 in 2022 to 125,987 in 2023, Ambassador of Malaysia to the Federal Republic of Germany, Datin Paduka Dr Adina Kamarudin is optimistic of a further spike for 2024.
She attributed her anticipation to several factors, including the travel trends in Europe for the current year and beyond.
“Firstly, despite the sluggish economy globally, there is an insatiable rise of experience seekers. And what is apparent is the changing face of the travellers in that we have an emerging generation of younger, diverse and empowered travellers,” Dr Adina said.
In her presentation for Malaysian co-exhibitors pre-ITB Berlin 2024 at the Embassy of Malaysia in Berlin, the Ambassador of Malaysia also highlighted the power of personalisation in catering to the needs of travellers.
“In other words, tour and travel agents must come up with tourism brands that tap into the consumers’ varied passions. For example, in the area of niche tourism, providers of products and services may provide things like wellness, spa treatment, luxury, eco-tourism, sports and adventure. All these are personalised in nature,” she explained.
On climate change and sustainability trends in travel, Dr Adina stressed that she could foresee that the railway system will lead the transition to climate-friendly travel not only in Europe but also in other parts of the world.
“However, this is only possible with the development of good rail infrastructure to connect key travel destinations,” she said.
Malaysian Tourism Federation president Datuk KL Tan rated Malaysian tourism players’ participation in ITB Berlin 2024 as a resounding success.
He attributed this to pent up demand for ecotourism and wildlife tourism packages (following the reopening of Malaysia’s borders to international travellers in April 2022).
“Basically, we have engaged in fruitful discussions with existing and potential partners, including travel agencies, tour operators and eco-conscious travellers interested in incorporating Borneo into their itineraries,” he said when met at the Malaysia Pavilion.
However, in the same breath, Tan commented that it was not all that sunny by virtue of global challenges confronting tourism stakeholders. He identified these as geopolitical issues, inflation and sharp increase in air-ticket prices. “We have to be realistic and take these factors into account,” he said.