KUALA LUMPUR: Despite ranking 9th in the world in foreign visitors, Malaysia believes it must continue to boost the tourism sector in the face of competition from its neighbors, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Friday. He said that although the country continued its tourism boom, it now must be “accompanied by hard work to raise its achievements in the years to come.” He added, at a news conference in Indonesia on Friday, that tourism was one of the major contributors to the country's overall economy. “The tourism sector has a significant impact on the economy and living standards of the people. In this context, Malaysia cannot be an exception (in raising competition),” he told reporters. Yassin, who Bernama news agency said is on a 6-day visit to Indonesia, had earlier attended a briefing on tourism by the Bali Tourism Board, given by its director, Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu. The Malaysian tourism sector is now the seventh biggest contributor to the national economy and last year, 24 million tourists visited Malaysia and had spent a total of RM58.3 billion, the report said. The deputy PM added that the development of the Malaysian tourism sector “must be based on the National Key Economic Area (NKEA), which targeted an increase in the duration of stay and total expenditure by the tourists.” The focus will be on 13 initial projects which had been outlined under the National Tourism Transformation Plan which included affordable luxury, family fun, nature adventure, business tourism and the organizing of international events such as sports.
