8/3/2019 Malaysia Tourism Report Q4 2009

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Malaysia Tourism Report Q4 2009

Robust Performance By Tourism Sector

Tourist arrivals to Malaysia continue to be robust. Looking at the most recent dataavailable from the Immigration Department, the country welcomed 15.38mn tourists overthe January-August 2009 period, an increase of 4.4% year-on-year (y-o-y). August itselfwas a particularly strong month, with tourist arrivals up by 10.4% y-o-y, at 2.03mn.The robust performance is in stark contrast to dire prognoses of falls of 9% mentionedby the government at the turn of the year and shows that Malaysia has done well towithstand the lack of consumer demand for global tourism in a difficult year. However,given the still depressed nature of global tourism demand, BMI prefers to remaincautious on the final result for 2009, predicting a 1% fall for overall arrivals.BMI remains bullish on the long-term prognosis for Malaysian tourism, which continuesto benefit from strong government support and a relatively secure and stable politicalsituation. The country offers a range of options (from meetings, incentives, conventionsand exhibition MICE travel to beachholidays) and the state is committed to supporting an industry that is a key generator offoreign exchange.

Focus On Health Tourism

In June 2009, state news agency Bernama reported that the Malaysia TourismPromotion Board (MTPB, Tourism Malaysia) is embarking on a three-year project tocollect market data on health tourism, as the country seeks to increase the number ofpeople visiting the country for medical treatment. The samemonth, a report by Travel & Tourism News Middle East underlined the increasingimportance the state is giving to health tourism. The Minister of Health, Datuk Seri LiowTiong Lai, said that health tourism generated about US$85mn in revenue in 2008 andtreated 370,000 foreign patients. The government is expected to draw up a legalframework to regulate the health tourism industry soon. New CEO For Malaysia AirlinesIn August Idris Jala stepped down as CEO of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to take up a job ingovernment as minister without portfolio. His replacement is the companys chieffinancial officer Azmil Zahruddin bin Raja Abdul Aziz. Jala was much respected duringhis time as CEO and his departure will be felt by the airline. In particular, Jala did muchto turn around the fortunes of the airline in recent years via severe costcutting and aggressive sales promotions. In July, Aviation Week identified MalaysiaAirlines, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa as the three airlines best positioned toweather the global economic situation.

Despite the challenging operating environment, MAS posted a net profit of MYR876mnin Q209, which is its highest ever quarterly figure. For H109, net profit stood atMYR181mn. The airline attributes its strong performance to aggressive sales campaignsaimed at increasing load factors.