KUALA LUMPUR, 21 November 2023: Tourism Malaysia Ho Chi Minh, in collaboration with Batik Air, organised a familiarisation trip for nine travel agents and a media representative from Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City last week.
The agents and media participated in a five-day-four-night programme that started in Kuala Lumpur and featured visits to Bukit Tinggi and Melaka. Among the highlighted places of interest in Kuala Lumpur were Independence Square, River of Life, Central Market, Saloma Bridge, Kwai Chai Hong and RexKL.
At Bukit Tinggi, participants also had the chance to experience all the attractions, such as the Japanese village, Horse riding, Rabbit Park, and stay at Colmar Tropicale Berjaya Resort.
In Melaka, participants explored the historical Melaka city and visited A’Famosa Resort Melaka and the Freeport A’Famosa shopping outlet. At Gamuda Cove, the participants visited GL Play by Gamuda Lands and theme parks, such as Safari Insta Tour, Boat Cruise and Goosebumps Ropes.
Longways Travel & Tours, ibis KLCC, Berjaya Hotels & Resorts, Tourism Melaka, A’Famosa Resort, GL Play by Gamuda Lands and AnCasa Hotel sponsored the familiarisation trip.
Tourism Malaysia director-general Dato Dr Ammar Abd. Ghappar said: “We look forward to welcoming more than 300,000 Vietnamese travellers to Malaysia this year. In the first half of 2023, Malaysia recorded 161,795 Vietnamese arrivals, thus reflecting strong pent-up demand in the post-pandemic, as Vietnam is one of the important markets for Malaysia’s tourism industry.”
“This year is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and Vietnam. Malaysia and Vietnam have a strong bilateral link. This connectivity will help improve bilateral trade and tourist exchange between Malaysia and Vietnam, which has seen a significant increase in recent years,” he added.
Batik Air currently operates direct flights from Hanoi (HAN), Danang (DAD) and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL). Promotional fare for one-way economy class between Ho Chi Minh City and Kuala Lumpur starts from USD69 (no business class). The fare includes free baggage allowance – 20kg for Economy Class travellers. The brand-new narrow-body Boeing 737-8 aircraft will be deployed on this route.
Malaysia is targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with a contribution of MYR49.2 billion (USD11.1 billion) in tourism receipts in 2023. There are 150 direct flights from Vietnam to Malaysia, and Tourism Malaysia is expecting exponential growth from the Vietnam market, including the Southeast Asia region.
(Source: Tourism Malaysia)
