Amid controversy over the demotion of Tourism Malaysia director-general Ammar Abd Ghapar, the agency’s board of directors has voiced support for the “strategic changes” introduced by Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing.
In a statement yesterday evening, the directors agreed that the way tourism is promoted needed improvement.
“As we know, tourism is an important economic sector for the country, being the 5th largest gross domestic product contributor.
“Although tourist arrivals and receipts have improved, it is still far behind pre-pandemic levels and, more importantly, we have to remain competitive compared to neighbouring countries,” the statement read.
The directors then agreed that based on feedback from industry players, states, and the general public, that the way the tourism industry is promoted needs to “drastically improve”.
“We are in full support of the strategic change of direction by the minister and the ministry and will strive to provide feedback and guidance to ensure these strategies are embraced and executed with good governance and with full transparency.
“We remain guided with doing the best in the interest of the nation,” the statement said.
It was recently reported that Ammar confirmed receiving a notice from Tiong’s office that his last day as Tourism Malaysia DG would be on Feb 26. The notice was dated Feb 22.
The minister’s decision courted brickbats from the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Employee Union, which stated that the short notice gave a bad perception of civil servants.
Tiong had defended his decision to demote Ammar, saying it was because the latter could not perform the given task of attracting tourists into the country, especially tourists from China. - Mkini
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