KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians are increasingly planning holidays closer to home in favour of overseas destinations, with domestic travel drawing strong interest at the 59th Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair here.
MATTA president Nigel Wong said the domestic travel hall at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) was packed on the first day of the three-day fair.
"People are planning their holidays not just abroad but locally as well.
"Especially with the school holidays coming, we have seen a very packed domestic hall," he told reporters after officiating at the opening ceremony on Saturday (Sept 5).
While first-day sales and visitor figures are not yet available, Wong said early signs were encouraging, with full shuttle buses, busy exhibition halls and positive feedback from exhibitors.
"The crowd looks very good. Our buses were full and the halls very robust," he said.
MATTA is targeting between 150,000 and 180,000 visitors, with sales expected to reach up to RM220mil.
The fair has attracted more than 306 participating organisations, taking up 2,054 booths.
Wong said domestic tourism was an increasingly important part of the fair, generating between RM50mil and RM60mil in sales at each edition.
"This marks a new shift in Malaysian travel. We are beginning to explore our own backyard," he said.
To encourage more local holidays, MATTA has teamed up with Tourism Malaysia for an Explore and Win promotion. Visitors who purchase domestic holiday packages at the fair stand a chance to win prizes, including motorcycles, local holiday packages and gadgets.
At the same time, Wong said demand for outbound travel, particularly within the region, was expected to remain healthy, supported by new airline routes and a wider range of destinations offered at the fair.
Sixteen international destinations are represented in the Level 3 international halls, including China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, India, Taiwan, Phuket and Uzbekistan.
The Level 1 halls feature state tourism bodies and local tourism operators from across the country.
Wong said the growth of domestic tourism would benefit the wider industry by encouraging tourism players to develop new products and experiences.
He also called for closer cooperation among the government, tourism bodies, travel agencies, airlines and other industry partners to keep the sector resilient.
"Tourism has proven to be an extremely resilient industry, very adaptive and very flexible," he said.
The MATTA Fair runs at Mitec until Sunday. It is open from 10am to 9pm daily.
Free shuttle services are available from KL Sentral and Sunway Putra Mall to Mitec.
