Ministry Confident Of Achieving 28 Mln Tourist Target

JOHOR BAHARU (Johor, Malaysia), Sept 29 (Bernama) -- The country is expected to achieve its target of 28 million tourists this year despite the occurence of several incidents such as the terrorist attack in Sabah and the twin Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane tragedies. Tourism and Culture Ministry deputy secretary-general (Culture) Ab Ghaffar A. Tambi said the confidence was based on market growth from several Asian countries and the Middle East which had balanced out the presence of tourists in the country after the markets from China, Taiwan and Sri Lanka were affected. "Generally, the incidents (terrorist attack and MAS aircraft tragedies) did not stunt the tourism sector because there is evidently, growth in other markets. "Among the countries which contributed to the growth are Turkey with 62 per cent, Bangladesh (57), South Korea (40) and Spain (39)," he told reporters after launching the World Tourism Day 2014 celebrations at the Mall of Medini here Saturday. Ab Ghaffar said the ministry had also taken initiatives to revive the market, which included promotional activities with the help of officers at 44 Tourism Malaysia offices abroad. -- BERNAMA