Mohamaddin: Too early to say tourism industry hit by outbreak

CORONAVIRUS | Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi says it is too early to gauge the Malaysian tourism industry following the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"If we look at the coronavirus outbreak itself, it is not only (faced by) Malaysia but this is (also) the problem (faced) by the world. Similar with other countries," he told the media today after attending a craft and textile exhibition in Kota Baru, Kelantan.

"So, it is too early to say the tourism industry is impacted due to the virus which spread less than half a month ago," added Mohamaddin.

"We will stick to the target of 30 million tourist arrivals for Visit Malaysia Year 2020 (VMY2020). It is not a question whether we can achieve (the target) but we maintain our target as it is," he said.

He added that the tourism sector does not rely on tourist arrivals from one country alone to achieve the 30 million target.

"Take last year as an example, the largest arrival of tourists were from Singapore, not China," he said.

China constituted the third-largest tourist arrivals in Malaysia last year.  

On Jan 28, Mohamaddin's deputy, Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, reportedly said the ministry would review its target of bringing in 30 million international tourists with more than RM100 billion in receipts for the VMY2020 campaign, reported the New Straits Times.

This came following problems faced by more than 60 Malaysian tour agencies whose clients were mostly tourists from China.

However, Mohamaddin denied the virus outbreak would hit the tourism industry despite a temporary ban on Chinese travellers from Hubei and its central city Wuhan to contain the coronavirus. - Mkini