KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) through its agency, Tourism Malaysia is participating in the world’s largest tourism trade fair, Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin (ITB Berlin).
For this year, the ITB Berlin takes participants on a completely virtual journey throughout the three-day event called ITB Berlin NOW 2021 from today until Friday.
Its minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri when officiating at the event virtually, today said some 30 Malaysian organisations comprising 10 tour operators, 10 hotels and resorts, seven state tourism boards and three tourism associations participated this year.
“In our past participations, several initiatives were established such as partnerships with major international airlines, charter operators and the European Travel Agents & Tour Operators Association (ECTAA), tactical campaigns with tour operators and online travel agencies (OTAs), workshops, familiarisation and media trips, as well as diverse collaborations with the media,” she said.
Taking full advantage of the virtual experience, Malaysia is having its ‘virtual cafe’ for the first time called Malaysia Truly Asia Cafe Corner that highlights the country’s niche products such as specialised scuba diving for the disabled, birdwatching and medical tourism.
Through this event, Tourism Malaysia looks forward to discussing possible collaborations and partnerships by leveraging the business-to-business (B2B) spectrum.
Markets proposed for these joint collaborations are Turkey, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Moscow, Ukraine, Austria, Sweden, Czech Republic, as well as the Balkan region.
Apart from its aim of promoting and increasing Malaysia’s visibility in the European market, Tourism Malaysia also wishes to enhance connectivity from major long-haul destinations to Malaysia and also to take advantage of international events such as ITB Berlin to draw visitors to Malaysia. – Bernama
