Malaysia Targets One Million Chinese Touristshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif This Year

BEIJING, July 20 (Bernama) -- Tourism Malaysia is set to capitalise on this year's 35th anniversary of Sino-Malaysian relations as well as the ethnic ties between the peoples of both countries to draw more Chinese tourists to Malaysia.
The Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board has set a target of one million Chinese tourists for this year alone.
"We will launch attractive tour packages which encourage Chinese tour operators to bring newly-wed couples, diplomatic personnel, intellectuals and professionals to Malaysia," Malaysian Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Ng Yen Yen said at a meeting with Tourism Malaysia officers based in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan Sunday evening soon after arriving here on a five-day visit to promote tourism.
She said tourists coming under these packages would enjoy gifts and additional services on top of the attractive discounts.
"We will include wedding photo shoots, gifts and gala shows for mass wedding couples to make their honeymoon in Malaysia a most memorable one.
"Former Chinese ambassadors to Malaysia will be engaged to give talks and hold seminars in universities here to relate their sweet experience in Malaysia so as to attract fellow diplomatic personnel, intellectuals and professionals to visit Malaysia," she said.
Dr Ng said the Chinese websites of Tourism Malaysia would carry the stories and photographs of rich and successful Chinese Malaysians to arouse the interest of the Chinese here to visit Malaysia to find out more about the evolution of Chinese Malaysians.
She also said that Tourism Malaysia would introduce special packages for Chinese senior citizens and parents of Chinese students overseas to visit Malaysia.
The Tourism Ministry would also emphasise the "To Know Malaysia is to Love Malaysia" promotion to get tourists to revisit Malaysia, she said.
Ng is scheduled to have dialogue sessions with major tour operators in Beijing at the Westin Beijing Chaoyang Hotel Monday morning and a dinner with Beijing Tourism Administration officials in the evening.
She will head for Shanghai Tuesday morning and also visit Wuhan and Guangzhou city before returning to Kuala Lumpur Friday.

welcome to malaysia

WELCOME TO MALAYSIA
Malaysia is a country of contrasts, bathed in the warm tropical sun, endowed with 3,000 kilometers of coastline, several historic cities, a unique cultural mix, a string of cool hill resorts, the world’s oldest rainforest—and even Southeast Asia’s highest mountain. Add to this a delightful fusion.

Geographically, somewhat oddly, Malaysia comprises two distinct bodies of land, politically joined in 1963 after independence from Britain. The Malayan peninsula is the historic home of the Malay people, today’s heart and the population center of the dynamic modern nation. East Malaysia claims the northern edge of the huge, wild island of Borneo. Ethnically and culturally, Malaysia is a fundamentally Malay country overlaid with Chinese, Indian and British influences, and possessing several indigenous tribal peoples such as the Iban, Penan and Negrito.

Yet it preserves many traditional cultural aspects—dress, religion, food and architecture—and retains great natural beauty in beaches, forests, rivers and mountains. Visiting Malaysia provides a step into a special and distinctive world that can be done with ease and comfort via high modern standards of transportation and accommodation.

Holidaymakers love to head for the beach first and forget their workday cares. Malaysia offers a huge range of seaside relaxation running from luxurious total-comfort resorts to deserted away-from-it-all beaches. On the northwest coast of the peninsula sits the holiday island of Langkawi, set on the Andaman Sea. In its myriad coves and inlets, beside palm-fringed golden sand beaches, Langkawi offers international-standard resort hotels and simple chalet accommodation. For a bit of action, there are water sports of all kinds, a fine golf course and duty-free shopping. Especially easy to access, Langkawi has its own international airport.

Farther down the coast lies Penang Island and Batu Ferringhi’s resort hotel-lined beach with little offshore islands ideal for snorkeling and diving, or cruising around. Penang has long been popular with international tourists, as the large island offers many attractions, including a hill resort, botanical gardens, rainforest, typical Malay villages and the historic port city of Georgetown. Farther south, in the Straits of Malacca, lies the island of Pangkor, a popular getaway for Malaysians with its many sandy bays and all kinds of accommodation and diversions.

On the east coast, in an archipelago of 64 volcanic islands, sits Tioman Island. Blessed with miles of soft white sand and swaying palms, with a forested, mountainous interior where wild flowers grow in profusion and cool waterfalls cascade down rocky slopes, Tioman affords a paradise for everything from nature walks to sea sports, or just plain lazing in the tropical sun. The states of Pahang, Terengganu.

East Malaysia also boasts beach resorts such as at Damai, near Kuching, with its brilliant white sands and the Sarawak Cultural Village—a museum of Sarawak’s ethnic cultures. The real highlight, however, comes from diving in the waters off Labuan Island, famous for underwater shipwrecks, and Sipadan Island, in the state of Sabah.

With its wealth of natural environments, Malaysia offers a plethora of adventure opportunities: jungle trekking, white-water rafting, mountain and rock climbing, great cave exploration, scuba diving, kayaking, mountain biking and more. Throughout the country the settings provide ideal adventure activities—dense forests, rapid rivers, craggy mountains, huge cave systems, bountiful seas and kaleidoscopic coral reefs—plus abundant wildlife and ancient indigenous peoples.