by NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK / pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

THE Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) will monitor the situation in the Middle East in case it affects the Visit Malaysia 2020 (VM2020) campaign.

Motac secretary general Datuk Dr Noor Zari Hamat said among the focus of the campaign is to bring in as many tourists as possible from the region specifically.

“While we will not end our efforts to keep promoting the country as a destination in the region, there is currently no visible impact (of the crisis) as of now.

“We will monitor the situation closely, and perhaps by the end of the month, the effects will be more visible,” he said at the collaboration launch between Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) and Tourism Malaysia yesterday in Kuala Lumpur (KL).

Tourism Malaysia DG Datuk Musa Yusof said the country has faced a similar situation before, namely the Gulf War.

“We have representatives in the US to monitor the situation more closely, alongside other potential issues that may arise,” Musa said.

Meanwhile, TM has introduced unifi Travel Pass, a tourist SIM card in partnership with Tourism Malaysia for VM2020.

As part of the collaboration, TM via its premier Convergence brand, has introduced a special mobile plan which offers an unlimited high-speed data plan, access to unlimited WiFi nationwide via wifi@unifi and unlimited entertainment via playtv@unifi app.

TM group chairman Rosli Man said he could not disclose a number on the sales target for the plan itself.

“We would like to get as much as possible. Perhaps 100% of the 30 million tourists, but if we can’t, maybe 50%.

“It would be great if we could get more, however, for now, the target is as much as possible,” he said.

He said the collaboration marks unwavering effort by both parties to optimise the latest technology use, leverage on digital marketing and maximise integrated marketing campaign.

“This collaboration not only reflects our support for the tourism industry, but also a testament of our continuous commitment in bringing unlimited connectivity for everyone, including foreign tourists travelling in Malaysia,” he said.

The partnership will focus on three main pillars, such as broadband connectivity for tourists, promotion of the campaign via TM’s digital assets and campaign promotion via global and local assets.

Tourists can choose between the seven-day or 15-day pass for RM30 or RM60 respectively, offering both 3G and 4G data, while including preloaded airtime credit for outgoing calls at 20 sen per minute and send texts at 10 sen per SMS.

The credit can be reloaded anytime via online or from over 15,000 unifi Mobile reload vendors nationwide.

The SIM card can also be collected at the Tourism Malaysia’s information centres at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and KLIA2, or take up the offer for delivery at the holiday accommodation.