More Malaysians are travelling overseas than before
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- Published on Tuesday, 27 March 2018 16:13
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Berita Daily (https://www.beritadaily.com)
GEORGE TOWN: Travel experts have detected a surprising trend of more Malaysians travelling abroad than ever before despite the mounting grouses regarding the high cost of living and the slumping ringgit.
Observing this was the Malaysian Association of Tours and Travel Agents (Matta) honorary secretary-general Nigel Wong.
Speaking ahead of the annual Penang Matta Fair at the Straits Quay Convention Centre here, Wong said that more Malaysians were travelling overseas than before, and the surging trend was detected five years ago.
He remained pleasantly surprised that outbound travel in the country was booming despite concerns over living costs and a stagnant economic outlook.
For example, Wong said that the Matta Fair in Kuala Lumpur earlier this month saw 70% of the flight tickets purchased were for regional and international travel, and the destinations were varied – from Americas to Europe and the Middle East.
It was learnt that the expensive African Safari tours were now also in demand despite the ringgit losing its value against the US greenback since 2014.
Wong said that regional travel was selling fast because the country’s neighbours have also invested in building up the touristy value of their home grown destinations, such as Bangkok (Thailand) and Siam Reap (Cambodia).
However, he could not specify whether the flight and tour packages purchased by Malaysians were confined to those seeking overseas jobs, education or leisure.
Matta is now hoping to secure RM20 million in sales during this weekend’s fair in Penang, outstripping last year’s sales of RM17 million.
All exhibitor booths have been snapped up, and the travel agencies continued to brace for thousands of visitors to the event.
“It has become a feel good factor in outbound tourism,” Wong said.
And it is such trend which has prompted the national carrier – Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS) to return to the fair as previously the event was mostly marketed as a platform for domestic travel.
Now, MAS will collaborate with Matta by offering discounts of up to 50% for various destinations that it flies out of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
MAS regional head for Malaysia and Brunei, Roslan Ismail said that it seemed that Malaysians have now come to embrace the travel culture in developed nations as many of the citizenry head overseas when given the time to holiday.
Roslan said that overseas travel has confounded the critics of the economy that the wallets of the Malaysians are shrinking.
Admission to Matta Fair is free and the visitors can check out deals from some 50 exhibitors from the travel trade community and those in services related to tourism.
Read more: https://www.beritadaily.com/malaysians-travelling-overseas/