Ucapan YAB Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia Sempena Majlis Pelancaran Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014 (TMM 2014)

TEKS UCAPAN
YANG AMAT BERHORMAT TAN SRI DATO' HJ MUHYIDDIN HJ MOHD YASSIN
TIMBALAN PERDANA MENTERI MALAYSIA

SEMPENA
MAJLIS PELANCARAN TAHUN MELAWAT MALAYSIA 2014 (TMM 2014)

4 JANUARI 2014
DATARAN MERDEKA, KUALA LUMPUR

YB Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Tan Sri Abdul Aziz
Menteri Pelancongan dan Kebudayaan, Malaysia

YB Menteri-Menteri Kabinet
YB Timbalan-Timbalan Menteri Kabinet
Duta-duta besar ke Malaysia
Wakil-wakil media massa
Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan yang dihormati sekalian.

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Salam Sejahtera dan Salam 1Malaysia,

1. Saya bersyukur ke hadrat Allah subhana huwataa'la kerana dengan limpah kurniaNya, dapat kita bersama-sama di majlis gilang-gemilang pada petang ini untuk meneruskan satu lagi program transformasi negara, meraikan, majlis pelancaran Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014.

2. Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014 adalah kali keempat dalam siri kempen Tahun Melawat Malaysia, lanjutan daripada kejayaan tiga kempen terdahulu iaitu pada tahun 1990, 1994 dan 2007. Tema Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014 ditetapkan sebagai "Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia". Di peringkat kebangsaan pula, tema bagi pelacongan domestik adalah Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia, "Hayatilah 1Malaysiaku" yang menyerlah kekayaan dan keunikan warisan dan budaya pelbagai kaum, keindahan flora dan fauna, keenakan makanan dan minuman yang harus dibanggakan oleh setiap rakyat Malaysia.

3. Kempen Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014 dijangka menjadi pemangkin kepada industri pelancongan di Malaysia untuk bergerak ke hadapan dan merealisasikan sasaran kerajaan menerima seramai 36 juta ketibaan pelancong dengan RM168 bilion pendapatan pada tahun 2020. Marilah kita bersama-sama menjayakan kempen Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014.

Ladies and gentlemen,

4. Allow me to bid all of you a warm welcome or 'Selamat Datang', particularly our foreign guests and tourists present here this evening. I am delighted to be part of this momentous occasion to launch the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign. This is a special moment as we roll-out the exciting and fun-filled programmes, events and offerings that have been customised for Visit Malaysia Year 2014 to attract and welcome tourists. This is also a special moment for all those who have made the necessary preparations and worked hard to ensure that all tourists will enjoy and cherish their visits to Malaysia.

5. The Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign is, therefore, poised not only to create happy memories and wonderful experiences but also to build the bridge of friendship and promote better understanding of each other's cultures and heritage. Besides the socio-cultural benefits, the importance of tourism can also be underscored from the economic perspective. For instance, during this Visit Malaysia Year campaign, tourist arrivals are targeted to reach a record high of 28 million, generating international tourist receipts of RM76 billion in 2014. This represents a significant increase of RM11 billion in foreign exchange earnings. As such, the expansion of the economic pie will result in higher incomes and create more business and job opportunities. The economic impact will be even greater when domestic tourism is taken into consideration.

6. Towards this end, the total impact of tourism can be discerned from the Tourism Satellite Account of Malaysia. Based on the latest statistics, the total tourism income generated in the economy was recorded at RM103.3 billion in 2012, representing a growth of 7.2%. The total tourism income comprises RM62.5 billion in international tourism receipts and RM40.8 billion in domestic tourism receipts. From the macro perspective, the tourism industry accounted for 12.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provided 12.7 million jobs, thus contributing towards16.4% of total employment in 2012.

Ladies and gentlemen,

7. Having outlined the immense impact of tourism, I hope it serves as a motivation and clarion call for us to offer our very best to tourists to ensure that Visit Malaysia Year 2014 is an outstanding success. In this regard, we have to ask ourselves, "are we ready to be a great host and be a tourist-friendly nation?", "are we ready to offer new and innovative tourism products that are tourist-centric?" "are we ready to further improve and offer higher quality services?", "are we ready to enhance our collaboration to realize the vision of positioning Malaysia as a top-of-the-mind tourist destination?" My assessment and answer to each of these questions is a resounding "Yes!"

8. Malaysia is well on track to achieve the goal of being a top tourist destination in the world. For instance, Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2014 has listed Malaysia as one of the top 10 countries to visit. CNN Travel has ranked Kuala Lumpur as the 4th best shopping city in the world, after New York, Tokyo and London. CNN has listed three of our pristine islands and beaches - Perhentian Kecil Island, Juara Beach and Tanjung Rhu - as among the Top 50 Beaches of the World's 100 Best Beaches. Additionally, five sites have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites and these include Melaka city; Georgetown in Penang; the Mount Mulu National Park in Sarawak; the Kinabalu Park in Sabah; and the Lenggong Valley in Perak. These accolades in the eyes of the world bear testimony of Malaysia being an premier tourist destination.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

9. Malaysia is also a fascinating place to visit in terms of our rich diversity in culture and heritage, which is in line with our theme "Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia". It is also captivating for the tourists to witness the vastly different ethnic groups living in harmony with a common bond of kinship and solidarity. thus ensuring peace and stability in Malaysia.

10. Our value proposition of culture-based tourism enables both domestic and international tourists to explore, witness and appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of our cultures, traditions and heritage. As part of the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 celebrations, we have lined up numerous cultural tourism events such as the unique Malaysian culture of hosting Open Houses where everyone, in particular tourists are invited during Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Gawai, Tadau Keamatan, Deepavali and Christmas festivities. To add to the carnival atmosphere, cultural festivals, food festivals, art festivals and museum trails will be organised throughout the year at the various states across the nation to offer value-added experiences for tourists during Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

11. In addition to the abundance of natural treasures of flora and fauna, from landscapes of impeccable beauty to cultural tourism, Visit Malaysia Year 2014 is ready to offer a comprehensive range of product offerings to cater to the varied needs and preferences of tourists. These include the augmented tourism products and services under the key themes of affordable luxury or shopping, nature adventure or ecotourism, family fun, integrated resorts, major events and business tourism.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

12. We have the right ingredients for a highly successful Visit Malaysia Year 2014, among others, the enabling policy framework and commitment of the Government, the strong public-private sector partnership and the unwavering support of our rakyat. I look forward to all your continued support and collaboration to propel our tourism industry to greater heights.

13. To our honoured guests and tourists, allow me to once again welcome you to celebrate Visit Malaysia Year 2014. Let this land of sunshine and warm friendly people capture your imaginations and hearts to bring home fond memories of your stay in Malaysia. With that, on behalf of all Malaysians, we heartily welcome all tourists to visit Malaysia.

Dengan lafaz Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, saya dengan ini secara rasminya melancarkan Kempen Tahun Melawat Malaysia 2014.

Sekian, terima kasih.
Wabillahitaufiq wassalamua'laikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Last updated : 21 April 2014