VMY2007: A* Jornalist's Take

FIGHTING FOR THE SAME TOURISM PIE

This year Malaysia is competing with Thailand, and
possibly other Asean countries, for a larger piece of
the foreign tourists' revenue. It is going all out via
"Visit Malaysia Year 2007" to grab the foreign
exchange, drawing up extensive programmes to attract
the crowd. How successful remains to be seen, as there
are both positive and negative factors at play.

By P.Y. Chin


On Dec 26 last year, the second anniversary of the
Asian tsunami disaster, Astro TV aired a three-hour
two-part mini-series, called "Tsunami: The Aftermath",
produced by HBO (Home Box Office) in association with
the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation). It
depicted a tale of personal loss, survival and hope.
It was about a group of fictional characters whose
lives were irrevocably transformed by the cataclysmic
natural disaster that occurred two years ago on Boxing
Day, 2004.

The cast was headed by Tim Roth, an Academy
Award and Golden Globe nominee, and included Chiwetel
Ejiofor, Sophie Okonedo, Hugh Bonneville and Toni
Collette. The mini-series was written by Abi Morgan,
produced by Finola Dwyer, and directed by Bharat
Nalluri. The filming was done entirely on location in
Phuket and Khao Lak, both in Thailand. It even had a
Thai production company, Santa Films, acting as
advisor throughout the filming.

According to HBO, among the subplots were two
that related to Thailand -- a Thai survivor who lost
his family and tried to prevent developers from
seizing the land his village was built on; and a
leading Thai meteorologist whose earlier report
detailing the inevitability of a tsunami hitting the
affected area was ignored.

Thailand was one of the 13 countries that were
badly hit by the Asian tsunami, which killed an
estimated 226,000 people, injuring more than half a
million, and leaving 5 million homeless, with no or
little access to food or water. Total reconstruction
costs were estimated at US$7.5 billion (RM27 billion).

The significance of the mini-series lies in the
fact that Thailand was chosen as the focal point for
the movie. The choice gave Thailand a timely shot in
the arm for the country's tourism industry.

Not that the movie helps to highlight Thailand
as an international tourist destination on a scale
never experienced before. Or that the movie gave
Thailand the mileage that, as the saying goes, "even
money cannot buy".

It is that Thailand, having been hit hard by the
Asian tsunami, also has its image affected by the
recent military coup, and last week by the bombings in
its capital, Bangkok.

All these tended to make the foreign tourists
nervous about visiting Thailand, especially when, as
usual, the US and Australia immediately issued travel
advisories "of caution" to their respective citizens
intending to visit the country.

Despite all the negative events, the Thai
tourism industry recovered the fastest among the ASEAN
countries. The reason is probably that Thailand has
too much to offer, and its attractions are too good to
be given a miss in any travel plans to the East.

Malaysia is also one of those countries hit by
the tsunami, though not on as serious a scale as many
others. Unfortunately, Malaysia's tourism industry
paid little attention to the tsunami. It looks like
only Thailand turned a crisis into an opportunity.

Under the Thai plan, the Thai Ministry of
Tourism and Sports and the Tourism Authority of
Thailand have targeted to receive 14.8mil visitors in
2007, generating total revenue of 547bil bahts (about
RM54bil). For local tourism, the Thai authorities
expect locals to make 82mil trips, producing total
revenue of 377bil bahts (RM36.8bil).

However, Malaysia is not sitting on its laurels
either. This year, Malaysia is going all out to
attract a larger number of foreign tourists, with its
fully loaded calendar of monthly local and
international events, and with activities in almost
every State.

The Malaysian Ministry of Tourism has come out
with an aggressive campaign, Visit Malaysia Year 2007
-- the third in the series that started in 1990.
The first campaign unexpectedly attracted 7.4mil
tourists, almost double the 4.8mil arrivals the
previous year.

The success of such a campaign had encouraged
tourism authorities to go for a second campaign in
1994. Though this time there were slightly fewer
visitors -- at 7.2mil -- but total foreign exchange
earnings were an impressive RM8.3bil.

This year's campaign has ambitious targets --
20.1mil foreign visitors -- generating revenue of a
massive RM44.5bil. The targets perhaps also are
anchored on the fact that this year it is also the
50th anniversary of the country's Independence, with
more programmes to mark an important nation's
milestone.

And in conjunction with such an anniversary, the
country's National Film Development Corporation and
the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage have teamed
up with Discovery Network Asia to undertake a project
that will showcase Malaysia to the world.

The project seeks five Malaysian first-time
film-makers who could present a "real picture" of
Malaysia's image as a multi-racial and multi-cultural
country in documentaries which are to be aired over
Discovery Channel on TV. Another similar effort was
also carried out jointly with the National Geographic
Channel.

Both these projects should put Malaysia on the
world tourism map, as the popular Discovery Channel
and National Geographic Channel have large worldwide
following.

Malaysia's efforts are in direct competition
with Thailand's, and it certainly looks like Malaysia
is wasting no efforts in ensuring that its Visit
Malaysia Year 2007 campaign will succeed. Though the
Government has originally allocated RM149mil in the
annual Budget for the campaign, at least a further
RM51mil, making a total of RM200 million, would be
spent. With such an enlarged sum, failure cannot be an
option.

At the same time, the Ministry of Tourism had
requested that two of its funds -- Special Tourism
Fund and Tourism Infrastructure Fund -- be increased
to RM3bil each from the present RM1.2bil each. This
was to help the small and medium sized businesses
related to tourism and travel.

While this year's target of 20.1mil visitors
spending RM44.5bil is ambitious, many quarters are
optimistic that it can be achieved.

In 2005, 16.43mil visitors came and spent
RM31.9bil. Last year, the final figure is expected to
be 17.6mil tourists, spending RM35.2bil.

Analysing both the Thai and Malaysian figures,
foreign tourists in Malaysia, though larger in
numbers, spent less than those who visited Thailand.

For this year, Thailand is expecting each
foreign tourist to spend an average of 36,959 bahts
(RM3,650).

On the other hand, this year Malaysia is
expecting each foreign tourist to spend an average of
RM2,214, compared with an average of RM1,940 in 2005,
and a slightly higher average of RM2,000 last year.

Such statistics speaks volumes: With a fewer
number of foreign tourists arriving, yet Thailand
earns more (in ringgit terms). This could mean one
thing: That Thailand concentrates on getting quality
international tourists rather than on quantity. For
quality, this means getting tourists to stay in
Thailand longer, and to spend more per visitor.

As Thai Tourism Minister Suwit Yodmanee declared
recently: "I would like to see tourists extend their
stay in Thailand beyond seven days, and to spend more
money."

Thai tourism authorities are of the view that
foreign tourists are not put off by the country's
political and Mother nature's induced woes.

The 2006 figures tell the story: Foreign tourist
arrivals were up 18.5% to 13.65mil while revenue from
this group soared nearly 31% to 481bil baths
(RM46.8bil), making it a USD13-billion industry
(RM45.6bil).

Tourism in Thai certainly has made a fast
recovery. The tsunami and military coup might have
caused some brief interruptions to the tourism
sector's progress, so will the latest bombings, said
the Tourism Authority of Thailand recently.

For Malaysia, tourism is an important industry,
not just that the country has lots of tourist
attractions, but with an inflow of RM31.9bil in 2005
it was the second largest foreign exchange earner that
year.

It still is the second largest foreign-exchange
earner, after manufacturing. Tourism earnings account
for 31% of the economy, and is lumped under the
services sector, which in total account for 58% of the
economy.

It is therefore imperative that Malaysia tourism
authorities should get it right from the beginning.
First, there is a need to seek quality foreign
tourists -- "quality" here means tourists who are
staying longer than usual, and spending more.

For the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign, every
conceivable organisation and corporate entity
connected with tourism is putting in its two-sen's
worth of effort.

There's an economic argument that by
aggressively pushing the tourism industry forward, the
spill-over effects would be felt in other sectors,
mainly hotel, airline, retail, leisure and
entertainment, food and agriculture, and transport.

The airline industry is already gearing to play
its part in the promotions of Visit Malaysia Year
2007. Malaysia Airlines has already in hand creative
tour packages, as well as secure deals with tour
operators of other countries to bring hordes of
tourists to this country.

Of course, the airlines, be it MAS or Air Asia
or foreign carriers, are the first to benefit from a
greater influx of foreign tourists, as most of them
would need to be flown into the country.

Low-cost airlines are the favourite of
budget-conscious tourists. As such, any joint network
is at providing low-cost travel over long distances
would be welcomed by the travel sector. Presently
low-cost airlines operate short-haul flights within
regions only.

At the same time, the low-cost carrier terminal
is being upgraded this year to cope with a larger
number of travellers. So is the Bayan Lepas
International Airport in Penang, where RM36mil will be
spent to add 32 check-in counters and an aircraft
parking bay.

Foreign carriers are also jumping onto the
bandwagon to promote Malaysia this year. Etihad
Airways, United Arab Emirates' national airline, has
recently joined hands with Tourism Malaysia to promote
KL as a destination mainly for the Arabs from Middle
East, and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad
Badawi had said in an interview, that "Malaysia is the
biggest Asean destination for Arab tourists".

Next to benefit is the transport sector, as
tourists once landed in Malaysia would wish to move
around to various places of interest, for sightseeing
or for shopping or for dining. As such, taxis within
town areas, railways and buses (especially those
plying between towns) are bound to gain extra
passenger traffic.

Then the retail, food, leisure and entertainment
outlets will grab the next level of business. This is
where the foreign tourists are encouraged to spend,
spend, and spend.

According to the tourism authorities, shopping
is expected to account for more than 20%(or RM8.9bil)
of the RM44.5bil to be spent by foreign tourists in
Malaysia. In 2005, foreign tourists spent RM7.7bil or
20.8% of the RM31.9 billion in revenue.

To meet the influx of tourists, retailers round
the country are preparing for higher sales, after what
could have been a slightly slower festive season of
sales last year.

Entertainment is another area that will tap into
the tourism industry. There was expectation of a 20%
growth last year over 2005 in "entertainment
tourists". In 2005, growth was 42% to 1.4mil
entertainment tourists -- defined as those tourists
who visit casinos, theme parks, and attend concerts in
Malaysia.

Playing their part, Star Planet and Galileo Asia
signed a memorandum of understanding recently to
provide travel agents on the Galileo electronic
ticketing system the ability to include concerts and
musical festivals in itineraries to their clients.

For the Visit Malaysia Year 2007, Star Planet is
organising four to six international concerts. Leisure
group Genting is also slated to bring in more than 50
signature shows and events this year.

More importantly, Genting is expected to bring
in more than 20mil tourists, both locals and
foreigners, to its casino resort in Genting Highlands
this year. Last year, the estimate was 19mil visitors.
Already the Genting group is expecting this year to be
a record year for its revenue stream.

Meanwhile, the local hotel industry is also
gearing to welcome the larger influx of tourists, with
most having completed renovating their properties for
as high as RM60mil-RM70mil. Higher occupancy rates are
expected -- as high as 75% -- compared with 60-70%
last year.

Despite all the preparations to open the flood
gates to foreign tourists, Malaysia's tourism industry
still faces a number of negative factors. Though
Malaysia may not have such serious problems as a
military coup or widespread bombings as in Thailand,
there are some problems which still pose "a nuisance"
to the foreign tourists.

Foremost of which is the crime rate. Though in
general, crimes are not as serious as in some of the
developing or under-developed countries, the relative
high rate at present compared to past trends has been
a worrying factor.

Most of the crimes are petty thefts, where the
foreign tourists are most vulnerable. By increasing
the number of tourist policemen on the beat should
help to ease the problem -- to an extent.

Crimes are also known to have occurred at the
baggage section of the airport, though not as frequent
as in some other international airports. Occasional
breakdowns of the airport baggage conveyor system,
thus causing unnecessary delays, are also a sore point
with visitors.

Next, many have voiced their opinions that the
tourist sites within Malaysia should be better
developed, in view of the fact that more tourists,
including locals (in view of a five-day working week),
are visiting these places. Better amenities, cleaner
facilities, and greater accessibility should be the
aim.

Costs are another factor that could eat into a
foreign tourist's pocket. Transportation costs are
rising due to higher toll charges and higher fuel
charges.

Even KL International Airport (KLIA) is imposing
a security charge on all domestic (RM3) and
international (RM6) flights. MAS is also having a new
comprehensive pricing structure this year, which it
has said would still make its ticket prices,
especially for domestic travel, the lowest among
international airlines.

While imposing the security fee can be
justified, it must be remembered that KLIA is really
not on the international hub of stopovers for airlines
flying east to west and vice versa.

For years, Singapore and Bangkok have been the
stopover points for long-haul flights -- Singapore for
flights to the southern continent of Australia, New
Zealand and Pacific islands and to the Middle East and
Europe, and Bangkok for flights from northern Asia to
Europe.

This could explain why many foreign tourists are
seeing the KLIA relatively empty on most days and
nights. International hubs of stopovers are usually
busy all days of the week.

Weighing the positive factors against the
negative, Malaysia's tourism authorities are still
very gung-ho that the high targets can be achieved, as
such a campaign has been proven to be a success in the
past. There's no reason for it to fail this year.

On a longer term, the local tourism authorities
should have a more stable and ongoing plan than just
ad hoc options aimed at fire-fighting with
competitors.

The campaign is no longer a brand exclusive to
Malaysia. Almost all ASEAN countries are going for
such campaigns. There is a need for new ideas and
innovative concepts of marketing Malaysia as "the
destination of choice" to the foreign tourists.

_________________ENDS PY's COLUMN______________


DESIDERATA:

One of my fellow Bloggers asked Desi why I had not written on VMY2007's RM30million-Ferriswheel Ferrying PM and VVIPS to blast off RM44billiion-targeted ambitious tourism earner for this year, and I said I know I can depend on my fellow/fella bloggers to cover the EventOfTheYear aptly, ably & amiably.

I'd share with my ER a more objective take from a fellow newsman's point of view. I had already flagged off PY CHIN in an aerlier two-parter, so with out mushy ado, let's hear him. For the record, just mention this article first appeared yesterday in the Re-branded Siunday edition of the Borneo Post as SUNDAY POST, and my ackowledgement of gratitude to Miss Phyllis Wong for permit to republish the article, also with PY's compliments, is hear formally plAced.

Comments may be directed at the hoRst, here as my Gues' @
Email: py1818@yahoo.com.

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