Its director-general Datuk Manoharan Periasamy expressed confidence that the target is achievable, citing the 38 million visitor arrivals to Malaysia last year.
"For the record, the number of visitors to Malaysia as of February this year has increased by 31.3%, reaching 6.7 million compared with 5.1 million during the same period last year. The main contributors to this growth are visitors from Singapore, China, and India," he said.
"Looking at the current trend in tourist arrivals, we are optimistic about achieving the target of 45 million visitors, and this goal is certainly within reach. To accomplish this, we must collaborate with all industry players, including product operators and state governments, to attract more visitors to the country," he added.
He said this during an engagement session with Kelantan tourism industry players on Sunday (April 20), which was also attended by the state's tourism, culture, arts, and heritage committee chairman Datuk Kamarudin Md Nor.
Commenting on the engagement session, he said it gave a comprehensive overview of the initiatives and opportunities offered by Tourism Malaysia and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry to tourism industry players in Kelantan. This effort is part of the national agenda to ensure the success of the VM2026.
"Among the key initiatives shared during the session were the Aviation and Charter Sector Grant (GSPC), Tourism Sector Support Grant (GSSP), Travel Incentive (Gamelan), and Cultural Sector Support Grant (GSSK)," he said.
He emphasised that his team would work closely with tourism industry players in their respective states, assisting them in promoting their products and cultural or artistic activities.
"We found that Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan are among the states less active in applying for grants to promote their tourism industries, compared with Selangor, Sabah, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang," he noted.
"Therefore, we hope that these industry players will take advantage of the opportunities to apply for government assistance, schemes, and grants to boost promotional activities in their states," he added. - Bernama
