By V. Sivaji
The Bazaar Jom Cuti-Cuti Malaysia 2024, a collaboration between the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) and Tourism Malaysia will end today at Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang.
Some 50 booths set up by hotels, theme parks and other places of interest offer discounted rates, packages and other promotions.
Present to launch the event was the Deputy chairman of Tourism Malaysia, Dato Yeoh Soon Hin.
Also present was the president of MAH, Datin Christina Toh, MAH chief executive officer, Isaac Raj and the various state chairman from several states.
In his address, Yeoh shared that this fair in Penang is following the MAH Domestic Tourism Fair 2024 at Pavilion KL last month which was highly successful.
“It was due to the success of that Fair in KL, that it is now expanded to Penang, with plans already underway for another Bazaar in Johor this November.
“Tourism Malaysia’s goal in 2024 is to achieve 220 million domestic travellers and generate RM88 billion in receipts. As of the first quarter of this year, we have already achieved 25% of our target.
“Recently, the strategic Planning Division at Tourism Malaysia has put out the results of a Malaysia Outbound and Domestic Travel Behaviour Survey, taken from February to March of this year. The survey revealed that over 66.1% of respondents plan to holiday domestically in 2024 underscoring the strong demand for domestic offerings”, shared Yeoh.
He added that campaigns like Cuti-Cuti Malaysia are so crucial. We aim to ensure Malaysians can enjoy luxurious holidays within our country, without breaking the bank.
“We also strive to spotlight lesser-known destinations, encouraging Malaysians to discover new attractions and cherish the hidden gems our country has to offer”, said Yeoh.
Yeoh also highlighted that during his visit to several countries in the Middle East like Dubai and Bahrain with the Tourism Minister, they focused on promoting lesser known holiday destinations like Malacca, Ipoh and Sabah to them.
“As we met several big travel agents there, we also encouraged flydubai to fly to other destinations in Malaysia and also the Malaysia My Second Home Programme,” he added.
Later at the press conference, Dato Khoo Boo Lim, the organising chairman of the event, added that since this is the inaugural fair for Bazaar Jom Cuti Cuti Malaysia, they have modest expectations on the sales turnover.
“Due to the short notice for the preparations, we can be delighted that people and families have been coming to check out the various booths, ” he said.
He also added that as part of their MAH CSR initiatives, they have invited Pertubuhan Pemulihan Orang Orang Kurang Upaya for the fair to promote their products.
Also present at the launch ceremony was Tourism Malaysia Northern Region Director Shahrul Aman, Ashwin Gunasekeran, chief executive officer of Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau (PCEB), MAH Penang Chapter chairman Dato Tony Goh, MAH Kedah/Perlis Chapter chairman Eugene Dass, MAH Perak chairman, Tony Wong and MAH KL chairman BE Lim among others.
Bazaar Jom Cuti-Cuti Malaysia 2024 starts from 11am till 10pm today.