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V
ietnam has emerged as one of
the most important markets
for Malaysia, with the number
of middle-class Vietnamese
tourists surging in recent years. Accord-
ing to Nguyen Dinh Luc of the Viet-
namese agent, Golden Services Group,
this is because Malaysia has a host of
special tourism spots, good services,
diverse cultural features and attractive
pricing. He added that special pack-
ages, including islands tours, shopping
trips, honeymoons and F1 vacations are
favourite options among wealthier trav-
ellers from Vietnam.
For Pham Dang Viet Tiep of Ho Chi
Minh City-based TST Tourist, Malaysia’s
stand-out feature is its sustainable tour-
ism. “The fact that the country’s tour-
ism is closely linked to nature and local
cultural traditions has put it in good
stead,” he said.
Doan Van Truong, general manager
of Transviet Group, admires Malaysia’s
accommodation and transportation sys-
tems, as well as its reasonably priced
shoppingmalls. However, he advises that
in order to lure more tourists, Malaysian
operators must develop new products.
At the moment, Transviet’s self-
driving tour of Malaysia is proving one
of the most successful products in the
Vietnamese market. “Many of our cli-
ents are bored of normal tours, but they
are excited about this because it is an
amazing experience for them to drive in
a foreign country,” Truong said.
Drivers from Vietnam are first
helped to obtain an international driving
license. Once in-country, they spend an
hour familiarising themselves with driv-
ing on the left, before heading on to the
highway bound for destinations such as
Kantan or the Cameron Highlands. Cur-
rently, golf tours are also being heavily
promoted by Tourism Malaysia.
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truly asia
The economic downturn has reduced the number of outbound tourists from Vietnam overall,
but Malaysia is one of the few destinations to weather the storm.
Dong Hoa
reports on the
country’s appeal and its plans for the 2014 Tourism Year.