FORMER Malaysian tourism minister, Ng Yen Yen, has taken the helm at Tourism Malaysia, succeeding Victor Wee as the seventh chairman of the board.
In her new position, Ng will steer the country’s tourism board towards realising the goals of the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan, Malaysia’s targeted 26.8 million tourist arrivals for 2013 and 28 million arrivals for the upcoming Visit Malaysia Year 2014.
Tourist arrivals rose from 23.7 million in 2009 to 25 million in 2012 during Ng’s tenure, and Malaysia is the 10th most visited destination in the world, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
Ng’s tourism initiatives such as the 1Malaysia Contemporary Art Tourism Festival, 1Malaysia International Shoe Festival and 1Malaysia Green 1Malaysia Clean campaign are now permanent features in the annual tourism calendar.
