Malaysia is bringing its food and cultural attractions to entice more Pakistani tourists to the country. The effort is being made during Tourism Malaysia's participation in the 2nd Pakistan Travel Mart (PTM) from 2 to 4 October 2018 at the Karachi Expo Centre.
Khairul Nazran Abd Rehman, Consul General of Malaysia in Karachi and Shahrin Mokhtar Director Malaysia Tourism Board while speaking at a press conference here on Monday said a total of 23 Malaysian organisations will be stationed under the Malaysia Pavilion, comprising of travel agents, tourism product owners, hoteliers, Tourism Melaka, as well as senior officials from Tourism Malaysia. As part of its promotion, a cultural troupe from Malaysia will be performing for audiences and greeting guests at the Malaysian booth during PTM 2018.
They said Tourism Melaka will use PTM 2018 as a platform to launch "Visit Melaka Year 2019" in order to promote the state of Melaka more aggressively with the tagline "the gateway to historic Malaysia!". The city of Melaka is endorsed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In addition, Tourism Malaysia has teamed up with Beach Luxury Hotel in Karachi to organise a Food and Cultural promotion to showcase various Malaysian cuisines as well as diverse cultures of Malaysia. The Food and Culture Promotion will start from 5 until 14 October.
The objective of the initiative are to increase the awareness and interest of tourists and travel agents from Pakistan of the exciting potential that Malaysia presents as the preferred travel destination in Asia; to renew Malaysia's commitment and support for the Pakistani travel industry in their efforts to promote Malaysia; to keep the Pakistani counterparts abreast of recent tourism developments in Malaysia; and to establish a wider network of contacts in the Pakistani tourism industry.
There are currently nine weekly flights offered by Pakistan International Airlines and Malindo Air connecting Malaysia and Pakistan with a seat capacity of 2,450. More direct flights are expected to further facilitate travel to Malaysia from Pakistan.
Malaysia's diverse tourist attractions such as islands and beaches, shopping and theme parks, cultures, delicious local food, thick rainforests, warm climate, and luxury experiences, offer Pakistani tourists a pleasurable tropical holiday at highly reasonable prices at any time of the year.
Malaysia was named the Best Muslim Travel Destination 2018 by Mastercard and Crescent Ratings 2018 Global Muslim Travel Index. Malaysia was also listed in the Top 5 for country with the Best Healthcare and the Best Places to Retire in the World 2018 by internationallivinq.com
Malaysia recorded 34,773 tourist arrivals from Pakistan from January to June 2018 a growth of 29.4 percent compared to the same period last year.