The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) is working with its members to create at least 50 inbound packages for its affiliate member, the European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations (ECTAA), to sell in Europe.
MATTA’s president KL Tan said these packages, which will be ready by August, will cover a range of activities and attractions to meet the diverse interests of holidaymakers from 27 European countries.
Tan said: “There are more than 700 million travelling consumers and we are barely scratching the surface. Last year, Malaysia attracted only 1.1 million tourists from Europe. Our main challenges are the lack of direct air connectivity and lack of awareness about what Malaysia has to offer.
“To address the latter and to expand the market, our packages will include culinary, eco and nature attractions, adventure tourism, shopping, theme parks, culture and heritage.”
Tan revealed that MATTA will again organise a pavilion for its members at ITB 2019, where Malaysia will be the official partner country. In 2018, 29 MATTA members exhibited at the MATTA pavilion at ITB Berlin.
Improvements in air connectivity are also afoot, especially in 4Q2018 when Germany’s Condor Air commenced thrice-weekly services between Frankfurt and Kuala Lumpur, and TUI Group launched its Fly & Cruise programme.
Tourism Malaysia has also initiated joint marketing efforts with foreign airlines that service both Europe and Malaysia through their hubs, namely Turkish Airlines, Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Singapore Airlines.
