MALAYSIAN TRAVEL INDUSTRY RESILIENT DESPITE EXTERNAL DISRUPTIONS

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama) -– The local travel and tour industry has
remained resilient despite the global economic crisis and, more recently,
disruptions to travel in Europe due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption and
political turmoil in Thailand.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agencies (Matta) president
Mohd Khalid Harun said he expected the upheaveals to be only temporary.

"In the short term, it will be overcome. Things like the Iceland eruption
occurred unexpectedly," he told Bernama Friday.

On the bright side, it had spurred holiday-makers to shift their sights from
Europe to Asian countries, including Malaysia, he said.

Malaysian operators locked in RM100 million (US$31.36 million) in sales from
the Matta fair held in Kuala Lumpur in March, a 20 per cent increase from last
year.

Khalid said those who had already made bookings to European countries
would be advised to reschedule their trips if the volcanic ash phenomenon
continued to snarl air travel in the region.

"The travel agents will compensate and also suggest alternative destinations
or different dates to fly to those who had done their bookings earlier," he
said.

Travel agents should have insurance coverage for the compensation, he said.

Khalid urged those travelling to be ready to consider visiting other places
if problems arose, such as the situation in Thailand.

Khalid also said that Malaysians favoured spending their holidays in the
Asian region because they were more familiar with the culture, language, food
and traditions.

On the World Expo which opened in Shanghai this month, he advised those
interested to visit early to avoid possibly huge crowds at the end of the event
in October.

The expo has drawn millions of visitors since it opened on May 1 with
organisers expecting between 70 million and 100 million turnout during the
six-month show.

-- BERNAMA




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