KUALA LUMPUR, 1 October 2025: Tourism Malaysia hosted a pivotal strategic engagement session, bringing together its overseas directors from 29 full-fledged offices and four marketing representative offices, alongside key airline partners, to streamline and refine strategic action plans in gearing up for Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026).
The three-day event, held from 28 to 30 September, facilitated discussions on aligning international marketing efforts and strategising tourism promotion initiatives in key global markets, reinforcing Malaysia’s commitment to strengthening global tourism ties and enhancing its international outreach.
Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, YB Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, headed a special session where he imparted his strategic mandate and key expectations for efforts to amplify Malaysia’s tourism presence globally.
Other highlights include town hall sessions with all divisions in Tourism Malaysia and key tourism-related agencies, such as the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H), the Policy Division (Culture) of MOTAC, and the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), to enhance inter-agency cooperation in promoting tourism through more cohesive and integrated initiatives.
Breakout session with airlines featured engagement sessions with key airline partners and aviation stakeholders. Apart from three Malaysian-based carriers, 27 aviation industry players participated in the B2B session, fostering direct discussions between Tourism Malaysia’s overseas directors and their representatives.
Tourism Malaysia’s Director General, Datuk Manoharan Periasamy, emphasised the need to consider the return on investment (ROI) and the strategic role that air connectivity plays in expanding route networks and promoting Malaysia on the global stage.
“Visitor arrivals to Malaysia have demonstrated encouraging signs of recovery across various global regions. Notably, we have achieved full recovery in key markets across all regions, except for West Asia, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, and Western Africa. We remain committed to intensifying our efforts to stimulate growth in these regions and to achieving full recovery across all markets.”
