"MALAYSIA TRULY ASIA" TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN AMMAN

By Muin Abdul Majid

AMMAN, May 11 (Bernama) -- The sights and sounds of Malaysia mesmerised a
gathering of Jordanian travel industry players Sunday night, as the Southeast
Asian nation continued to canvass the Middle East region to boost tourism
revenue.

The crowd had a taste of what Malaysia had to offer at a gala dinner
featuring a pulsating and colourful cultural performance and video presentation
organised by Tourism Malaysia in conjunction with its roadshow to Jordan, on the
heels of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2009, which concluded in Dubai Friday.

The event at Le Royal Amman hotel in the Jordanian capital followed a
presentation on Malaysia's tourism sector and a news conference presided over by
Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general for planning Azizan Noordin.

Those present, including representatives from some 30 Jordanian travel
agencies as well as members of the media, "oohed" and "ahhed" at a series of
video clips highlighting a plethora of attractions and activities that could be
enjoyed by visitors to Malaysia.

The guests of honour were Malaysian ambassador to Jordan Abdul Malek
Abdul Aziz and Jordan Tourism Board managing director Nayef H. Al-Fayez.


Clearly elated over the response from the Jordanian tourism plaeyrs and the
media to Tourism Malaysia's initiative, Azizan said the agency would organise
familiarisation trips to Malaysia for them in the near future.

"We want them to see other parts of Malaysia besides Kuala Lumpur and
Genting Highlands -- places like Penang, Langkawi, Terengganu, Johor, Melaka as
well as Sabah and Sarawak," he told Bernama after the show.

He said the Jordanian Tourism Board was also keen on sending its officers to
Tourism Malaysia's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to learn more about Malaysia's
tourism strategies, as well to look into possible avenues for cooperation
between both sides.

Malaysia welcomed 7,807 tourists from Jordan in 2008 compared with 5,196 the
previous year.

Azizan said Tourism Malaysia was targeting 6,000 visitors from this Arab
nation in 2009, a slight dip due to the current global economic downturn that
has affected travel demand worldwide.

During the news conference and presentation, Azizan said that from
mainly shopping and sightseeing, Malaysia's tourism products had evolved over
the years to include niche products like the homestay programme, Malaysia My
Second Home, ecotourism, health tourism as well as education.

The consummate promoter of Malaysia also drew the attention of his audience
to the easy availability of halal food and the efforts being made to persuade
Arab tourists to visit Malaysia, even during the Ramadan fasting month which
falls this year during peak holiday and travel periods in the Middle East.

Azizan said that while Malaysia was pushing for more tourist arrivals from
Jordan, Malaysians too, especially the umrah crowd, had been visiting places of
religious significance in Jordan.

"We should not view each other as rivals as it'd be better if we could
complement one another, like undertaking joint promotion efforts similar to the
ones involving Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore," he said.

Increased interaction between Malaysia and Jordan would not only be positive
for tourism but would also be favourable to other fields like trade and
investment, education and health, he added.

Malaysian educational institutions have attracted over 70,000 foreign
students, including 21,000 from the Middle East.

Health tourism, another niche product, saw the participation of over 189,000
foreign patients in 2008, of which 3,879 were from the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines regional general manager Merina Abu Tahir said
the carrier had no plans for now to mount direct flights between Kuala Lumpur
and Amman.

"Not at the moment. We need to look at the demand, our network and balancing
with capacity projections for the Middle East," she said.

The next and final stop of the Tourism Malaysia roadshow in the Middle East
is Syria.

-- BERNAMA