A delegation of 45 CEOs and presidents of travel agents and travel agent associations convened in Kuala Lumpur on May 7 to discuss market and policy developments impacting the travel trade. As part of the Preferred Destination Partner 2018 agreement signed between ECTAA and Tourism Malaysia, the meeting sets in motion the aim of the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign to welcome 36 million visitors to Malaysia. Tourism Malaysia’s target for European arrivals is 2.5 million by 2020.
During its first meeting held outside of Europe, the European Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (ECTAA) focused on driving and growing European outbound travel to Asia – and Malaysia is the target.
A delegation of 45 CEOs and presidents of travel agents and travel agent associations convened in Kuala Lumpur on May 7 to discuss market and policy developments impacting the travel trade. As part of the Preferred Destination Partner 2018 agreement signed between ECTAA and Tourism Malaysia, the meeting sets in motion the aim of the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign to welcome 36 million visitors to Malaysia. Tourism Malaysia’s target for European arrivals is 2.5 million by 2020.
Said ECTAA President Merike Hallik, “The meeting in Malaysia is one of its kind. European travel agents will be able to experience Malaysian life and see what gems it holds for European travellers.” She added that Europeans are drawn to the region by its beautiful nature and beaches, nice warm weather, good food and friendly people.
As the international member of ECTAA, Malaysia Association of Travel Agents (MATTA) has been working closely with ECTAA to drive outbound travel from over 27 European countries through more than 70,000 travel agencies. Datuk Tan Kok Liang, president of MATTA affirmed that his association has seen a recent boost in European visitors to Malaysia and is positive about market growth over the next few years.
Last year, European visitors contributed 1.1 million to total tourism arrivals, which dropped slightly by 1.7% compared to 2017. To arrest this decline, Tourism Malaysia signed an MOU with ECTAA in March last year at ITB Berlin. Datuk Seri Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, director general of Tourism Malaysia shared that arrivals in January and February this year showed a surge in numbers and signaled encouraging progress in this partnership.
“Our engagement with Europe has been pretty much bilateral; we have been working consistently with various European associations from France, Germany and Spain, for example. We are very targeted as to which markets we want to attract. Of particular interest to us are the new emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe, which will take time for us to engage with properly. We want to make sure that we present the best tourism products that will appeal to them.
“Beaches are one of the attractions that are very appealing to Central Europeans as geographically, they do not have easy access to any beaches. And Asia is a natural choice for them to travel to as we are nearer. Moreover, with the present developments in the cruise industry, it is an option for them to fly and cruise to Asia, especially now that major cruise lines are using Asia as a base for expansion,” said Datuk Seri Mirza.
He also acknowledged that the European market comprises sophisticated travellers – including the elderly – who may not want to tolerate multiple stop-overs and time spent in transit to get to a destination; and this has spurred his ministry to work with charter airlines such as TUI fly and Condor for European travellers. Several groups from these airlines will be arriving this coming winter to explore Langkawi and other destinations. This arrangement best maximises the leisure time spent by long-haul travellers.
Post-conference, the delegation explored Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and Langkawi to get familiarised with the culture, cuisine, wildlife and nature that are the key selling points for European visitors.