MALAYSIA'S TOURISM INDUSTRY AFFECTED BY H1N1

KOTA BAHARU (Malaysia), May 29 (Bernama) -- The tourism industry in
Malaysia, like the rest of the world, has been affected by the influenza A
(H1N1) outbreak, Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen said Friday.

She said the international aviation association had reported a 10 per cent
drop in the number of air passengers worldwide.

"In Malaysia, we feel the effect to a certain degree but the number of
tourists throughout the world has also dropped though the figures are not
released yet," she said after visiting the Siti Khadijah market here.

She is also meeting tourism industry players in this east coast state of
Kelantan. Kota Bahru is the capital of Kelantan.

On another matter, she said the tourism industry in Kelantan could be
further enhanced because the state had many interesting tourism products, some
of which had yet to be developed.

"One example is the Siti Khadijah market. It fits the description of what
tourists want to see. The traders at the market are not unfriendly. Tourists
like to come to our country because they like our friendly people," she said.

She said the ministry had observed that many of the tourists to Kelantan
came from "unexpected" countries like Croatia, Greece, Estonia, Holland and
France.
-- BERNAMA