JOHOR BARU: With six months to go before Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) kicks off, tourism industry players here want the government to step up collaboration to ensure the campaign’s success.
Malaysian Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong claimed that there was a lack of engagement with industry players.
“The promotional push needs to be more aggressive since we only have six more months,” he said.
He said the government must take the lead in bringing all tourism partners together by providing training and coordination to promote Malaysia effectively to the world.
“All tourism players, be it hoteliers, tour operators, tour guides, must be included,” he said.
Leong said also deserving attention were Malaysia’s wide range of cultural celebrations and festivals.
“The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry could work with temples and other relevant groups to promote celebrations and festivals, in highlighting the colours of Malaysia,” he said.
Malaysian Association of Hotels Johor chapter chairman Ivan Teo said such a collaboration would benefit all parties.
“We need to work together to get the best out of VM2026 or we may risk not getting the impact we hope to see from the campaign.
“We also need to have more events, including concerts that can lure international crowds, or at least visitors from the South-East Asian region,” he said, adding that there was a need to beef up promotional efforts including media coverage from the foreign press.
