Tourist Arrivals In Malaysia Expected To Drop In 2012 - Minister

RAUB (Malaysia), Jan 10 (Bernama) -- The Tourism Ministry expects tourist arrivals in Malaysia to drop this year due to the unstable global economic situation, especially in Europe. Its minister Dr Ng Yen Yen, however, said she could not yet give the accurate figure for the expected tourist arrivals for this year compared to last year's as the Immigration Department had not given the actual number of foreign tourists visiting Malaysia in 2011. Dr Ng was speaking to reporters after launching the Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia Taxi Advertising Campaign, here, today involving 41 taxis acting as ambassadors promoting the tourist destinations and products in the Raub district. On Melaka listed by The New York Times as one of 45 destinations in the world that tourists must visit, she said she was proud and not surprised about it as Melaka had been declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). "Melaka qualifies to be listed by The New York Times as a must-see place as it is unique in many ways as it has the Baba Nyonya community, the Portuguese settlement, and the award-winning Melaka River Cruise," she said. On Raub district, Dr Ng said it was rich in natural environment like the Lata Jarum Recreational Park and Frazer's Hill, and offered homestay programmes. Raub is both a town and a district in east coast Pahang state, Peninsular Malaysia. The town is situated 110 km from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur -- BERNAMA