Malaysia Ready To Host WTTC Global Summit

From Nurunnasihah Ahmad Rashid BANGKOK, April 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is ready to become the second ASEAN country to host the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit after Thailand, as part of efforts to introduce the country and propel its economy. Tourism and Culture Deputy Minister, Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, said Malaysia has its own elements in organising an event and has interesting products that could be promoted to foreign countries. “Looking at the outcome of the event this time here (Bangkok), certainly we’ll welcome the idea of hosting such events if given the opportunity. "We are ready to organise an international summit such as this, in fact, I am confident the Minister will lobby for the right to organise the event,” she said to reporters on the sidelines of the WTTC Global Summit here Thursday. Thailand became the first ASEAN country to host the two-day summit, which began Wednesday, and launched by the country's Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha. Thailand’s tourism sector registered an 11 per cent growth to 2.52 trillion baht, or about US$72 billion, making it the country’s largest export in 2016. Mas Ermieyati said Thailand’s success in recording 32.58 million tourists last year was a very good achievement. "Malaysia can learn from Thailand’s success and emulate it," she added. She said the ASEAN countries had projected 126.4 million in tourist arrivals this year, while 32.2 million tourists were expected to visit Malaysia. She also advised the tourism industry players to play their role in promoting value-added products such as sailing. “Yesterday (Wednesday), I witnessed a memorandum of understanding between Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia to promote a new tourism product, Sail Sabang. “We see this as a good beginning for the industry, even though it’s a niche market but with good potential," she said. The Sail Sabang is a yacht cruise that connects three islands -- Phuket, Langkawi and Sabang Island in Acheh. The WTTC summit aims to bring together global leaders from the industry's private and public sectors to explore the theme of ‘Transforming our World’ with a focus on sustainability. Key speakers include former British Prime Minister David Cameron, United Nations World Tourism Organisation Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, Thailand Minister of Tourism and Sports Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul and AirAsia Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes. -- BERNAMA