KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia is poised to surpass its international tourist arrival target for this year by achieving an arrival of at least 18 million visitors, exceeding the initial target of 16.1 million tourists, said the Director General of Tourism Malaysia, Datuk Dr Ammar Abdul Ghapar.

He said the target was set based on various factors, namely the increase in airline frequency, expansion of chartered operating flights, and the allure of year-end holidays, which are expected to further bolster visitor numbers.

“This year, we target 16.1 million (international) tourists… looking at this positive growth, easily we can say that if nothing goes wrong, we can get 18 million tourists this year, which is more than what we targetted… we hope that materialises and we are very optimistic about it,” he said in his speech when officiating the Jordan Tourism Board Road Show and Business Dinner here Monday. 

Also present were the Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of Jordan to Malaysia, Bilal Al Nsour, and various tour operators from Jordan and Malaysia.

Ammar said Malaysia recorded 4.5 million tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year, adding that an announcement will be made soon on the incentives to be given for chartered flight operators in the country to boost tourism. 

He said this was necessary as Malaysia cannot depend on scheduled flights alone to boost tourism.

Meanwhile, Bilal said tourism plays a vital role in today’s modern economy, and for decades, Jordan has heavily invested in tourism, as when the country launched its Economic Modernisation Vision 2030 with tourism playing a vital part.

He said Jordan and Malaysia, which are moderate Muslim countries, enjoy steady progress in diplomatic relations since 1965, adding that both countries will celebrate the 60th year of diplomatic relations in two years time. – BERNAMA / pic TMR FILE