TOURISM INDUSTRY STILL THRIVING IN MALAYSIA

       Domestic tourism players are upbeat about the prospects of their industry for the remainder of this year on promising industry figures up to July and as the sector enters peak season period.
       The optimism is despite critical challenges facing the sector, such as the worsening type-A (H1N1) swineflu pandemic amid a global economic downturn.
       According to the Tourism Ministry, tourist arrivals from January to May this year totalled 9.4 million, an increase of 2.6 per cent compared with the corresponding period in 2008.
       And despite the rising numbe of type-A (H1N1) cases, Malaysia recorded slightly over two million tourist arrivals for July, an increase of 3.9 per cent from the same month in 2008.
       There were 13.35 million tourist arrivals from January to July 2009, a rise of 3.6 per cent from a year earlier. The Association of Tourism Attractions' (ATA) Penang chapter chairman, Eddy Low, said the tourism sector would remain strong going forward, although he acknowledged that swine flu remained a real threat to the industry.
       "Domestic and short haul markets will rule the day," he said, adding, "outbound and ground services were still attractive. Airfares were dirt cheap".
       He said connectivity was shaping up well on a regional basis as well as in the country itself.
       Reliance Pacific managing director Tan Sin Chong was also optimistic about the outlook of the domestic tourism industry.
       "Domestic and short haul markets will rule the day," he said, adding, "outbound and ground services were still attractive. Airfares were dirt cheap".
       He said connectivity was shaping up well on a regional basis as well as in the country itself.
       Reliance pacific managing director Tan Sin Chong was also optimistic about the outlook of the domestic tourism industry.
       Visitor arrivals to Malaysia for the first and second quarters saw growth, he said.
       "There has been a 2.2-per-cent growth in the first quarter of 2009 compared with [the same quarter of] 2008. The second quarter registered an even stronger growth of 4.7 per cent," he said, adding that indications of stronger tourist arrivals projected a brighter outlook from September, which is traditionally the peak travel season.
       Given these promising signs and evidence of some recovery in the global economy, the outlook for the domestic tourism sector for the remainder of the year had definitely improved despite the growing threat of swine flu, he said.