Malaysia’s charm offensive in the Middle East

Whether it’s the launch of a new campaign, hiring dedicated market representative or investment in better systems to attract last-minute bookings, it’s clear that Malaysia’s all out to win over Middle Eastern travellers.

The attention given to the Middle Eastern market is deemed critical, as key markets from the region to Malaysia had tumbled in 2017.

Arrivals from Saudi Arabia declined 16.6 per cent to 92,789 tourists in the first 10 months of 2017, whereas arrivals from the UAE dropped 38.9 per cent to 7,255 visitors during the same period.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture and its promotional arm, Tourism Malaysia, are understandably concerned as Middle Eastern travellers are top spenders in Malaysia and stay between seven to 10 nights in the country.

The average daily expenditure of visitors from the Middle East, which varies from RM1,185 (US$303) for Kuwait to RM1,046 for the UAE and RM943 for Saudi Arabia, is notably higher than RM720 for Singaporeans, who contribute close to half of total arrivals to Malaysia and stay an average of four nights.

The decline was in part due to Tourism Malaysia’s reduced promotional budgets in 2016 and 2017, which resulted in a lack of presence in the UAE, TTG Asia understands.

A source at Tourism Malaysia said: “There is also increased competition from other countries to attract the Middle Eastern traveller. Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan have become ‘hot’ destinations for Middle Eastern travellers due to affordable airfares from LCCs and short flight time of between three to four hours.

“Also, the decline in tourist arrivals from Saudi Arabia was partly due to the austerity measures taken by the Saudi Arabian government to save money after tumbling oil prices.”

This included cutting minister’ salaries by 20 per cent and scaling back perks for public sector employees from September 2016 until March 2017. The uncertainty in the economy led some travellers to hold back on their longhaul holiday plans,” the source noted.

From this year, Tourism Malaysia is ramping up international promotions to all major markets, including the GCC countries as a lead-up to Visit Malaysia Year 2020, where it hopes to attract some 36 million tourists and RM168 billion in tourist receipts. At the annual Arabian Travel Mart this year, Tourism Malaysia will be promoting its Visit Malaysia Year 2020 campaign.

Malaysia’s mid-year mega sales period has been specially timed to coincide with the summer holidays, which is also the peak arrival period for Middle Eastern travellers to Malaysia. Carnival Mega Sale will run from June 15 to August 31 as part of the government’s efforts to promote Malaysia as a shopping paradise to the Middle East market.

As well, the Malaysian government is working on improving the arrival experience for foreign visitors flying into the country. According to Malaysia Airports Holdings’ managing director Badlisham Ghazali, Kuala Lumpur International Airport has been working closely with the Immigration Department since early 2017 to open more counters during peak periods to reduce queueing time.

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