Tourist attraction: A visitor taking pictures of an art exhibition at the National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. Over 4.5 million tourists are expected to visit the country this year. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: An income of RM11bil is expected from the tourism industry with 4.5 million tourist arrivals this year through the implementation of the Tourism Recovery Framework (TRF) 2.0, says Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
The revised target was based on positive indications involving the arrival of 2.3 million tourists into the country within the last three months.
“This is above our target – initially, we targeted two million until the end of the year but now it is not even the end of the year, yet we have already achieved that.
“Maybe by September we could see more. We will continue to review this from time to time,” she told a press conference after her ministry’s tourism dialogue session and the TRF 2.0 launch ceremony here yesterday.
Nancy previously said her ministry was targeting two million tourist arrivals this year with more than RM6.8bil in tourism receipts.
She said to achieve this, TRF 2.0 would focus on smart international and national collaborations; as well as the local community empowerment agenda in facing the uncertainties of the tourism industry in the future.
The plan, which had been improved together with industry players through the Tourism Productivity Nexus, would also pay attention to efforts to increase the country’s income through the tourism sector.
“This strategic framework outlines five pillars of the tourism strategy, namely, supporting the restoration of tourism and culture businesses; and restoring tourist confidence and having smooth international and intra-regional travel.
“Also, reinventing tourism and cultural products or services to drive competitiveness; aligning tourism with sustainability and inclusiveness; and strengthening recovery with long-term resilience and crisis preparedness,” she added.
Nancy said the ministry, as of last month, had channelled RM23.8mil in financial assistance to 15,000 tour operators; while RM4.73mil worth of vouchers had been redeemed for the purchase of craft products, visual arts and books, and another RM2.35mil worth of vouchers offered for travel packages and land transport.
As for matching grants for home stays and budget hotels, she said a total of 342 applications worth RM1.64mil had been approved for homestays; and 43 applications worth RM886,000 were approved for budget hotels as at June 15. — Bernama
