HATYAI, 14 Oct 2017:
The Ministry of Tourism and Culture has launch the “ Southern Thai Packages to Malaysia”, in its latest initiative to entice more Thai tourist to visit Malaysia.
Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said his ministry is hoping to sell a total of 6,000 of the packages within five months, an achievable target due to the proximity between Thailand and Malaysia as well as the kingdom’s adventurous tourists.
“This year, we have set a target of 1.8 million tourist arrivals from Thailand. From January to May this year, we received about 812,954 Thai tourists – an increase of 9.8%.”
He said a total of 1.78 million Thai tourists came to Malaysian shores – which was an increase of 32.7% compared to the previous year.
Thai tourists, said Mohamed Nazri, contributed RM3.5 billion to Malaysian overall tourism receipts last year and was ranked fourth in the country”s top ten tourist generating market.
Elaborating more on the packages, he said the prices started as low as 4,200 baht (about RM525) and are offered by South Thailand tour agents to various destinations in Malaysia such as Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi and Ipoh.
The packages looked at various market segments such as family travel, leisure seekers, religious travel and shopping according to him, adding that Malaysia had all the attributes to meet the demands of Thai tourists.
To enhance the packages, the ministry, said Mohamed Nazri, was collaborating with KTM Bhd to promote rail packages as another alternative for Thai tourists, especially those from southern Thailand to visit Malaysia.
The rail packages, starting at 4,451 baht (about RM556), offered by southern Thai’s travel agents, combined several attractions and activities which would help to promote rail tourism, said the minister.
The southern Thailand packages, he said, also aimed to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries as well as to commemorate the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.
– Bernama