Big boost for travel industry
MATTA and hotel association ink MoU to generate more revenue
KUALA LUMPUR: Two key players will be working to help boost the travel industry in their bid to generate more revenue and work towards Visit Malaysia Year 2020.
The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents ( MATTA) and the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance the cooperation and partnership between both parties to promote inbound travel to the country through networking, marketing and other promotional activities.
MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said his association facilitates and supports members to work harder to help increase the number of visitors to Malaysia, including providing competitive and valueformoney accommodation.
“The hotel industry plays a major role in Malaysian tourism. Tourism will be incomplete without quality hotels..
“It is important for travel agents and tour operators to meet and accommodate tourists by offering various arrangements, from allinclusive packages to overnight hotel stay of different categories,” he said in a press conference yesterday.
The partnership is timely for travel agents, tour operators and hotels to work together and enhance their service quality with the potential growth of tourism from now towards Visit Malaysia Year 2020.
Also present were MAH president Sam Cheah Swee Hee and Tourism and Culture Ministry secretarygeneral Datuk Rashidi Hasbullah.
Cheah said a preference for online hotel bookings has presented an issue for conventional travel agents in securing competitive hotel rates.
“The MoU will help travel agents secure some form of competitive hotel rates.
“We will encourage hotels to allo cate a percentage but it’s up to them, depending on their market sector. The choice is on the operator.
“But we want them to support the initiative,” said Cheah.
Rashidi said the MoU is a good effort to further boost the tourism industry.
“At least 60% of tourists coming to Malaysia use travel agents for such packages so we need this sort of collaboration between MAH and MATTA,” said Rashidi.
Rashidi said this year’s tourist arrivals surpassed the ministry’s target of 31.5 million.
He said there were 33 million tourists so far this year and the ministry is targeting the same number next year.
“The majority of tourists, at least 75% of them, are from Asia, with Singapore being the biggest source, followed by Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei,” said Rashidi.