KUALA LUMPUR: Tourism Malaysia offices abroad risk closure if they do not bring in the projected number of tourists.
"We won't hesitate to do this, if the market is slow and the numbers projected do not come through.
"For example, if the offices in New York and Los Angeles are not doing well because of the decline in tourists, we will ask them to close shop immediately," she said, adding that it would be better to focus on the more aggressive markets such as those in the Middle East.
There are 44 Tourism Malaysia offices abroad, among them in Guangzhou, China; Perth, Australia; and Seoul, Korea, besides those operating in New York and Los Angeles.
The minister was speaking at a press conference following an annual meeting with Tourism Malaysia overseas directors, to review next year's tourism marketing strategy and plans in light of the global economic slowdown.
"We are already changing our approach of promoting the country in our advertisements overseas by showing more visuals of unknown places such as Danau Labaung in Sabah.
She added that the ministry would also be announcing a new target number for next year's tourist arrivals during the cabinet meeting on Dec 3.
"The tourism consultative council will meet before that to deliberate on the issue.
"Earlier, the target was 22.9 million tourist arrivals. We will review this target, as we have a lot of factors to consider such as the economic crisis, which would affect the number of tourists."
On strategies to woo more tourists next year, Azalina said the ministry would focus more on collaborations with neighbouring countries and online marketing to promote Malaysia.
"We are also looking at suggestions by neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore on reducing technicalities and adopting a more open policy for all our citizens."
Azalina also said that the ministry was planning to set up a Tourism Malaysia office in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Source: NST
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