BUKIT MERTAJAM: The government will re-strategise and review how best to move forward with new approaches to promote the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign following concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could affect tourism activities in the country.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing said the ministry will hold an internal meeting with tourism stakeholders to reassess the situation and discuss possible adjustments to its promotional strategies.
“We will re-strategise and review how best to progress with new approaches.
"Tomorrow afternoon we will have a meeting within the ministry to discuss the matter first,” he said during Majlis Iftar Ramadan in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) at Padang Homestay Mengkuang Titi here on Wednesday (March 11).
He said the ministry then will deliberate internally before deciding on the next course of action for the campaign.
Commenting on possible flight disruptions to the Middle East, Tiong said some airlines had temporarily suspended flights due to airspace closures in the region.
“At the moment, some flights have been stopped temporarily because of airspace closures.
"After our discussions, we will see how we can adjust our strategies and how we can cover the impact through other promotional efforts,” he said.
He was commenting on the possible disruption of airspace in major aviation hubs such as Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi.
The VM2026 campaign had initially aimed for 47 million international tourist arrivals with a revenue of RM329bil.
Meanwhile, Majlis Iftar Ramadan programme director Ammar Muhamad Pauzi said a total of 1,300 villagers and residents of Permatang Pauh attended the event.
He said the concept of the programme is the villagers work together in the spirit of gotong royong from the preparation of food and events programme.
The programme were also attended by 30 Universiti Sains Malaysia exchange students from Iraq, Iran, South Korea and China.
