Govt Committed To Further Develop Tourism Industry With Private Sector, Says Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The government is committed to further develop the tourism industry together with the private sector, Deputy Minister of Transport Abdul Rahim Bakri said on Friday. He said Malaysia has a strong global tourism position today and was the ninth most visited country in the world, receiving an average RM1 billion tourist receipts a week from foreign visitors. (US$1=RM3.06) “We've set a 2020 target of 36:168. In the year 2020, Malaysia is expected to receive 36 million tourists and RM168 billion tourist receipts. "This would mean the industry will grow by three times and tourism will contribute RM3 billion per week to the country in 2020,” he said when opening the 56th Assembly of Presidents of the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA). Abdul Rahim expressed confidence in achieving the target as Malaysia was located in the Asia-Pacific region, the home to over four billion people, which works out to about 62 per cent of the world’s population as aviation was widely recognised as a key contributor to economic and social developments. "This is also the region that encompasses the Asean, which will liberalise the skies by 2015, and open a new era in the intra-Asean air services,” he said. Coincidentally, he said, AAPA has also forecasted that although the world air traffic was expected to grow at an average 4.8 per cent yearly, Asia-Pacific traffic would experience an average 5.7 per cent annual growth and by 2030 would continue to lead by registering 33 per cent of the world’s airlines revenue passenger kilometres. “I believe this forecast will be key to the profitability of airlines that operate extensively in this vast region of potentials that the AAPA represents, barring margin squeeze by high oil prices, the main operating expense item for both the full service and low-cost operators,” he added. -- BERNAMA