Malaysia has requested tour operators from Sweden to include Penang and Langkawi in their tour packages to Thailand.
Tourism Deputy Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai said this would be a win-win situation for Malaysia and the tourists as they would to see more places without much additional cost.
Lim said this synergy was made possible with Malaysia Airlines' new carrier Firefly which is due to take to the skies from April 2.
Firefly routes include Penang to Langkawi and Penang to Koh Samui and Phuket.
Thailand attracted about 400,000 tourists from Sweden last year and Thai Airways flew from Stockholm to Bangkok daily.
MAS has three direct flights from Stockholm to KL International Airport a week.
“Our problem is always not enough seats,” said Lim during his official trip to promote tourism in Europe.
In Copenhagen, Lim said inadequate promotion of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic image has resulted in prejudice against the country whenever an Islamic issue crops up.
He was responding to feedback from tour operators on major reasons given by some European tourists for cancelling their trips to Malaysia.
“Let me assure you again that Malaysia is a very safe and peaceful country,” he told participants of a Tourism Malaysia travel seminar.
Malaysia’s target is to get 50,000 tourists from Sweden and 20,000 from Denmark this year.
Source : STAR
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