Mita holiday fair highlights the road less travelled
Malaysians looking for domestic travel bargains will be in for a treat at the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) virtual travel fair, which starts tomorrow.
The Mita Cuti-cuti Malaysia eTravel Fair would be held from July 1-15 and would take place entirely online, said Mita president Uzaidi Udanis.
He said that the travel fair was meant to encourage Malaysians to go on holiday locally after travel was halted during the first phase of the movement control order (MCO).
The travel fair was also an initiative by Mita to help the country’s economy recover, seeing that tourism was one of the biggest contributors to the Malaysian economy, he said during a press conference at the Malaysia Tourism Centre here yesterday.
Uzaidi said there would be discounts as much as 70% on travel packages, hotel rooms, and attraction tickets during the online travel fair.
“Malaysians are now more discerning when they book travel packages.
“When they book holidays, they usually consider three factors – the cost involved, the time (it takes to travel), and what is the experience to be gained from that.
“With the Mita eTravel Fair, we have taken all three into consideration,” he said.
He added that the online travel fair would make it easier for Malaysians to make their travel arrangements without leaving their homes.
“It makes it easier for the vendors to reach Malaysians from all over the country as well.”
Uzaidi said that the virtual travel fair will also feature packages to destinations that were still unknown to many Malaysians.
“For example, there will be packages to Kuala Sepetang in Perak and to Raub in Pahang.
“There are many tourist destinations in Malaysia that are still under-promoted.”
He also said tour and travel operators in the country usually focused on selling foreign travel packages, but now these operators can focus on introducing Malaysians to under-promoted local destinations.
He said that about 200 vendors would participate in the online travel fair, offering over 1,000 travel products.
He added that there would also be an option for those buying travel products via the online travel fair to purchase travel insurance from Senang Insurance.
Senang Insurance would offer a travel insurance scheme at a fee for as low as RM4, underwritten by Zurich General Insurance Company Bhd, which covers journey cancellations related to the Covid-19 pandemic, he added.
The Mita Cuti-cuti Malaysia eTravel Fair can be accessed at www.MitaeTravelFair.com.
He also hoped that the online travel fair would help the local tourism industry to recover more quickly.
“Tourism industry is one of the economic sectors hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and predicted to be the last to recover,” he added.