Amid weeks of smog and news of China nationals cancelling their holiday plans to Malaysia, Tourism Minister Mohammadin Ketapi still remains optimistic.
He also downplayed the impact on the domestic tourism sector.
"Today looks bright (cerah). There is no impact. Just some recent (flight) cancellations, that's all.
"Even that is only temporary, for two to three days," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.
According to the minister, the number of those who postponed their vacation to Malaysia was not a cause for alarm.
“Their numbers are not very big. That happened when the haze was really bad but it looks like there is an improvement today.
"There were not many (cancellations)... it (haze) did not have an impact. I think when the haze clears, they (tourists) will return (to Malaysia)," he added.
Meanwhile, Mohammadin also welcomed the government's proposal to approve an additional allocation for the 2020 Visit Malaysia Year campaign.
"Alhamdulillah, our budget will be increased. But we will wait and see until an announcement has been made," he added.
He was responding to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng's reported call for tourism industry players to submit their budget proposals.
Mohammadin, who denied that promotions for the 2020 Visit Malaysia Year have been sluggish, said the ministry had backed various programmes, including travel fairs.
In 2018, the total number of tourist arrivals was at 25.8 million.
For the first half of this year, the number of arrivals had reached 13.3 million.
In line with the 2020 Visit Malaysia Year, the government has targeted an increase in the number of tourist arrivals to 30 million. - Mkini
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