ID :
82575
Thu, 10/01/2009 - 23:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/82575
The shortlink copeid
STUDENTS IN RUSSIA TO HELP PROMOTE M'SIAN TOURISM
From Sharifah Shahrizad Mohamed Sharer
MOSCOW (RUSSIA), Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Malaysian students in Russia can help
create awareness on Malaysia and promote the country as a state-of-the art
tourist destination, Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen said Thursday.
She said one of the areas where the students could help was by performing
cultural shows to entice more Russians, including the young travellers, to
choose Malaysia for their holidays.
"These students can do cultural performances and this can be like their
part-time job. We are willing to send dance instructors here to teach the
students not only our multi-cultural dances, but also the Malaysia Truly Asia
and Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia dances," she told Malaysian journalists here.
She would discuss this possibility with Malaysian ambassador to the Russian
Federation Datuk Mohamad Khalis to address the issue of lack of promotion and
advertising of Malaysia as indicated by the local tour operators selling
Malaysia holiday packages, she said.
Dr Ng is here on a 12-day sales mission to Russia and the Commonwealth
Independence States (CIS) -- Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Currently about 7,000 Malaysians are pursuing their studies in the CIS,
including some 3,500 in Moscow.
Some of the students in Moscow have already formed a Malaysia cultural
performance group named Intan, consisting of Malaysian and Russian students, and
have been constantly showcasing Malaysian cultural activities around the city.
The local tour operators told Dr ng during their meeting Wednesday night
that lack of awareness on Malaysia was one of main reasons for the lower
arrivals of Russian tourists to Malaysia compared with Thailand.
Last year, Thailand received about 350,000 tourists from Russia while
Malaysia received only 26,308.
The long-standing issue of flight connectivity was again raised besides the
lack of Russian-speaking tourist guides.
Currently there are nine flights from Moscow to Kuala Lumpur weekly by
foreign airlines including Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Qatar Air and
Emirates Airline but all are connecting flights, causing a longer travelling
period of up to 15 hours.
Dr Ng said the tour operators had to be more aggressive in their campaign
and to create special packages to help them sell Malaysia as a combined
destination with their choice holiday destination.
On the lack of Russian-speaking tourist guides, she said that apart from
training more tourist guides to learn the Russian language, Malaysian students
who could speak good Russian could also help out.
Dr Ng also said that she would be asking for more funding for promotional
and advertising programes and campaigns in Russia because the RM700,000
(US$202,108) allocation for this year was insufficient in view of the exchange
rate.
She is also scheduled to attend the 18th session of the United Nations World
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Oct 5.
-- BERNAMA
MOSCOW (RUSSIA), Oct 1 (Bernama) -- Malaysian students in Russia can help
create awareness on Malaysia and promote the country as a state-of-the art
tourist destination, Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen said Thursday.
She said one of the areas where the students could help was by performing
cultural shows to entice more Russians, including the young travellers, to
choose Malaysia for their holidays.
"These students can do cultural performances and this can be like their
part-time job. We are willing to send dance instructors here to teach the
students not only our multi-cultural dances, but also the Malaysia Truly Asia
and Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia dances," she told Malaysian journalists here.
She would discuss this possibility with Malaysian ambassador to the Russian
Federation Datuk Mohamad Khalis to address the issue of lack of promotion and
advertising of Malaysia as indicated by the local tour operators selling
Malaysia holiday packages, she said.
Dr Ng is here on a 12-day sales mission to Russia and the Commonwealth
Independence States (CIS) -- Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Currently about 7,000 Malaysians are pursuing their studies in the CIS,
including some 3,500 in Moscow.
Some of the students in Moscow have already formed a Malaysia cultural
performance group named Intan, consisting of Malaysian and Russian students, and
have been constantly showcasing Malaysian cultural activities around the city.
The local tour operators told Dr ng during their meeting Wednesday night
that lack of awareness on Malaysia was one of main reasons for the lower
arrivals of Russian tourists to Malaysia compared with Thailand.
Last year, Thailand received about 350,000 tourists from Russia while
Malaysia received only 26,308.
The long-standing issue of flight connectivity was again raised besides the
lack of Russian-speaking tourist guides.
Currently there are nine flights from Moscow to Kuala Lumpur weekly by
foreign airlines including Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Qatar Air and
Emirates Airline but all are connecting flights, causing a longer travelling
period of up to 15 hours.
Dr Ng said the tour operators had to be more aggressive in their campaign
and to create special packages to help them sell Malaysia as a combined
destination with their choice holiday destination.
On the lack of Russian-speaking tourist guides, she said that apart from
training more tourist guides to learn the Russian language, Malaysian students
who could speak good Russian could also help out.
Dr Ng also said that she would be asking for more funding for promotional
and advertising programes and campaigns in Russia because the RM700,000
(US$202,108) allocation for this year was insufficient in view of the exchange
rate.
She is also scheduled to attend the 18th session of the United Nations World
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Oct 5.
-- BERNAMA
