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 SPEECH BY DATO’ AMIRRUDIN ABU ACTING DIRECTOR GENERAL TOURISM MALAYSIA PRESS CONFERENCE: MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL DIVE EXPO (MIDE) 2009 BEST WESTERN SERI PACIFIC HOTEL 30 APRIL 2009 Salutations:
Mr. Lawrence Lee, Vice President of Malaysia Sport Diving Association Mr. Thayalan Kennedy, Director of AsiaEvents Exsic Sdn Bhd Mr. Kevin Hiew, Senior Advisor, Coral Triangle WWF-Malaysia Mr. Richard Ng, Ambassador for MIDE 2009 Members of the Media Ladies and Gentlemen First of all, I wish to say thank you to the organizers for inviting me to be at this press conference and thank you to the media for their support of this event. Tourism Malaysia is always keen to support the private sector’s initiatives to promote Malaysia as a tourist destination. In fact, in recent years, we have been focusing on promoting our niche tourism products, of which diving is a major one. Previously at the Cabinet Committee on Tourism, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, as Chairman, had reiterated the need to emphasise on ecotourism to attract tourists this year. As such, Tourism Malaysia views the Malaysia International Dive Expo, or MIDE for short, as an important event in promoting one of Malaysia’s exciting ecotourism niche products, i.e. diving. MIDE is an important consumer and trade exhibition to promote Malaysia as a world-class diving destination. I believe with many special travel and dive packages being offered, it will attract large number of diving enthusiasts, both local and foreigners to the Expo. Tourism Malaysia has been supporting this event since 2006 and we are happy to play a supporting role again this year. For MIDE 2009, Tourism Malaysia is offering support in terms of participation in the event itself and cost of inviting foreign media to the event. Ladies and Gentlemen: Malaysia is renowned as one of the leading dive destinations in the world with the richest marine environment in the Indo-Pacific Basin. We have various diving spots and more than 40 marine parks around the country. Dive centres in Malaysia are well-equipped and certified by the relevant agencies for maintaining their standards of safety and professionalism. Scuba diving courses are endorsed by certifying agencies such as Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI), Scuba Schools International (SSI) and British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC). Naturally, we are keen to let more people know that Malaysia is a must-visit destination, where they can enjoy diving and a wide variety of other tourist attractions. In line with our aspirations, we have been working closely with tourism operators, conservation organisations, planners and other related industry players to make our diving packages more attractive. Through participation in international expos and exhibitions as well as seminars and advertising campaigns, we have made our presence felt in selected markets. Our target markets for the promotion of diving are Europe, USA, ASEAN especially Singapore, North Asia especially Japan and Korea, and East Asia especially China. We have also invited journalists from international dive magazines to personally experience diving and other aspects of Malaysia through our Mega Fam programme. The Mega Fam programme is among our most successful promotions programmes, and we have had numerous favourable write-ups about Malaysia through this initiative. Ladies and Gentlemen: In closing, I’d like to commend the organizer for their dedication in initiating the Malaysia International Dive Expo and for continuing their good work all these years. I also thank the private sector for their participation in this important event. I wish the organiser and participants a successful expo. I hope that this event will be an effective platform for international dive and tour operators to work with our local trade members to package and promote dive holidays in Malaysia. Finally, to the members of the media, please extend your support for MIDE 2009 by writing about the expo and about Malaysia as an attractive diving destination. Thank you. END |
