KUALA LUMPUR, 4 December 2018: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) welcomes the appointment of Datuk Musa Yusof as the Director General of Tourism Malaysia effective 3 December 2018.
MATTA President Datuk Tan Kok Liang says, “We wish to extend our heartiest congratulations to Datuk Musa Yusof for being appointed as the new Director General of Tourism Malaysia by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.”
“With his years of experience in Tourism Malaysia, the appointment of Datuk Musa augurs well for the tourism industry in the country especially in marketing, international promotions and local market segmentation.”
“My first engagement with Datuk Musa was some 10 years ago during his tenure as the Director of Domestic Marketing Division. He has been very supportive of MATTA’s promotion activities such as B2B events and overseas sales missions and also MATTA Fairs. Our recent overseas sales mission to China and India would not have been a resounding success without the full support of Datuk Musa during his tenure as Senior Director, International Promotion Division (Asia/Africa).”
“I find him eager to work closely with industry players in terms of guidance and assistance in making Malaysia the preferred travel destination. His encouragement and continuous support over the years has led to driving our nation’s tourism industry forward.”
“As Malaysia’s leading and largest travel association, MATTA is looking forward to work closely with the new Director General to enhance domestic and international promotions with new directions and strategies to attract more tourist to Malaysia and bring the tourism industry to a higher level.”
“The Malaysia’s tourism industry is trailing behind neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Philippines. The tourist arrivals for ASEAN countries have recorded positive growth in 2017, with 7.8% increase for Thailand, 6.2% for Singapore and 11% for Philippines. Whereas visitor arrivals to Malaysia dropped by 3% with 25.95 million tourists in 2017, compared to 26.76 million in 2016.”
“The target of 30 million tourist arrivals for Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2020 is crucial and in need of urgent attention; and international promotion campaigns must be executed in a concerted manner. It is necessary for Tourism Malaysia to enhance its promotion efforts by collaborating with tourism industry stakeholders such as MATTA to ensure the effectiveness of tourism promotion activities.”
“Funding such as incentives for local travel agencies keeping in tandem with the digital economy could encourage modernisation of promotion activities that will bring multiplier effects for the Malaysian tourism industry.”
“MATTA will continue to support the new Director General and trust that he will bring Tourism Malaysia to greater heights,” concluded Tan.
DATUK TAN KOK LIANG
President MATTA
Term 2017 - 2019