‘MALAYSIA, TRULY ASIA TAGLINE STAYS’
Relevant and as popular as it was 20 years ago, says tourism minister
THE Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry has no plans to change the “Malaysia, Truly Asia” tagline, despite calls by various quarters to do so.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohammadin Ketapi said the country already “owned” the tagline, and that Malaysians should be proud that the brand is known globally.
Describing Malaysia as a melting pot of culture and diversity, he said one would find it hard to locate a country that had everything needed to have the full Asian experience.
“Besides being racially diverse, Malaysia is also an epicentre of food, arts and culture as well as tradition,” he said.
He said the government had invested 20 years into the brand, and it remained as relevant as ever.
Mohammadin, however, admitted the hype on the brand had slowed down following the Malaysia Airlines MH370 and MH17 tragedies in 2014. He added that the declining value of the ringgit had also affected its advertising initiatives abroad due to the cost factor.
The minister was responding to a suggestion by German ambassador to Kuala Lumpur Nikolaus Graf Lambsdorff, who said Malaysia needed the right marketing strategy to boost tourist numbers from Germany specifically and Europe generally, to compete with neighbouring Thailand.
Lambsdorff had suggested that Malaysia re-look the slogan, which he felt had served its purpose.
“The slogan ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’ is nice and it’s well known but now you need a new one. It helps that people hear something new, ” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Musa Yusof said Malaysia has been “quiet” in promoting the country.
“Malaysia’s ‘noise’ is less heard internationally while our neighbours have stepped up their promotional efforts with increased budgets.
“What we need is to maintain our consistency in the market through advertising,” he told the
New Straits Times.
He said Malaysia’s tourism initiatives had moved into digital marketing, such as engaging through social media and smart partnership with airlines operating in Malaysia and neighbouring countries.
Big plans were being lined up for the tourism industry, including the Malaysia Tourism Awards campaign logo, to rally the public ahead of Visit Malaysia Year 2020, said Musa.
He added that the efforts to promote the campaign, to be launched in June, would be boosted by advertisements and promotional activities in the second of half of the year. The logo of the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 campaign will be launched in June.
Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) president Datuk Tan Kok Liang expressed similar sentiments, stating that the 20-year-old slogan had yielded results.
He, however, said as of late, the famous slogan had somewhat lost its shine while Thailand had stepped up with more promotional activities.
Tan said improvement on flight availability, tourism infrastructure, services and effective engagement with foreign tourism players were badly needed.
Tan suggested that Tourism Malaysia relook different approaches for Germany based on the feedback given by their ambassador.
This was not the first time that calls were made to review the “Malaysia, Truly Asia” tagline. In February 2015, then tourism minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz also shot down suggestions to change the tagline.
“Malaysia,Truly Asia” was created in 1999, when advertising agency Integrated Strategic Communications (ISC) was invited by then tourism minister Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir to brainstorm on a new creative campaign.
Kadir had wanted ISC’s input based on its work in conceiving the “To Know Malaysia is to Love Malaysia” campaign in the 1980s.