15 June 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Tonight Travel Agents and Media were treated to a night of revelry and merry making at Taming Sari Grand Ballroom in The Royal Chulan Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. This was part of the week-long Make It Malaysia 2011 event organized by Tourism Malaysia.
Attended by travel agents and media from ASEAN countries, the guest-of-honour for the dinner was the Acting Director-General of Tourism Malaysia, Datuk Azizan Noordin. Guests were treated to an international buffet spread, song and dance performances.
In his welcome address, Datuk Azizan Noordin mentioned about some of Malaysia’s events including the International Shoe Festival, the Malaysian Contemporary Art Festival, the Gourmet International Festival in October, the Asean Food Trade Fair in November, the Year End Sale and Journey Through Time, a high end watch event.
Moving on to the topic of Home Stays, Datuk Azizan Noordin also highlighted that 27,000 Singaporeans out of the 40,000 homestays in 2010 have experienced a vacation in the villages (or known as Kampongs in Malaysia). With the rivers as “nature’s longest bath tubs”, ‘5 star’ toilet facilities with water heaters, guests could enjoy a comfortable time with their host families. He highlighted that children these days do not get the chance to handle real chickens except at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Homestays provide a good opportunity for these children to experience life that they may not have previously. Recently guests who stay in the Home Stay programme can take part in the Plant-A-Tree campaign to contribute to “sustainable development”.
In 2010, 24.6 million tourists have visited Malaysia while 18 of the 28 million Malaysians have traveled out of Malaysia.
The Make It Malaysia 2011 Retro Nite ended with guests dancing together with the performers to retro music before heading back to Concorde Hotel where most of us were staying in.
Reporting “live” from Kuala Lumpur.
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