Suhairi says Johor received 2.8 million international visitors last year.
THE tourism sector in Johor has been recovering steadily since the reopening of international borders in April last year.
Tourism Johor director Suhairi Hashim said that the state had benefitted significantly from the reopening of the border with Singapore as a majority of its international tourists travelled from the island republic.
“The tourism industry has been recovering well despite the lack of manpower, which remains a major challenge.
“We were able to attract 2.8 million international visitors last year.
“This year, we have set a target of five million foreign visitors.
“Based on our performance last year, I am confident that the target is attainable, especially with more countries opening up their borders,” he told StarMetro.
Suhairi added that Tourism Johor was also exploring the India market and had held engagement sessions with tour operators from the country.
“Most tourists from India will usually pass through Johor on their way to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur,” he said,
“It is rare for them to make a pit stop or stay overnight in Johor.
“We believe that the Johor tourism industry has unique products and we showcased what we had to tour operators from India.
“There are indications that we will be seeing more tourists from India as the operators have expressed interest to include Johor in their itinerary.”
He also hopes to see a large number of tourists from China now that the country has started easing its travel restrictions.
On medical tourism, Suhairi said Johor was targeting visitors from Vietnam as well as several regions in Indonesia.
“Our main target for medical tourism in the past were those coming from Indonesia’s Riau islands because of their close proximity to Johor.
“Moving forward, we are looking at attracting people from Surabaya and Medan in Indonesia as well as Vietnam,” he said.
He added that among major events Tourism Johor had slotted for 2023 were Johor Majestic Festival, Johor International Food Festival and Nusantara Music Festival.
