With 2015 dubbed as the Year of Festivals, Tourism Malaysia – Manila is happy to welcome His Honorable Dato’ Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, Director General of Tourism Malaysia along with the rest of the Malaysia delegation comprising of State Tourism Boards, Product Owners, Hoteliers and Tour Operators, to the Philippines to meet and greet with those from the local tourism industry including local travel agents and airline companies as well as the press, as Tourism Malaysia-Manila gets ready to launch a special campaign. 

The special Networking and Open Opportunity discussions were held last June 8, at Ballroom 2 of Fairmont Hotel in Makati City from 2PM, with the special launch held later at 6PM.

In his speech, His Excellency shared, “For MyFest 2015, we aim to have 29.4 million tourist arrivals and RM89 billion in tourist receipts, leading up to our ultimate goal of 36 million tourists and RM168 billion in tourist receipts by 2020. This is part of the government’s National Blue Ocean Strategy to create value innovation through public-private partnership collaboration. To that end, I would like to invite all of you to work with each other and develop new tourism products and packages that will highlight our culture, and promote it as a tourist attraction to the rest of the world.”

The event was hosted by Sam Yg. My Favorite Isabelle De Leon performed as well during the event and sung the theme song of Tourism Malaysia.

Be Friends Forever campaign

In line with the Year of Festivals 2015, with the theme, “Endless Celebrations”, BFF or Be Friends Forever very well complements the year-long campaign of the Manila office. These three letters effectively mirror the bonds that were built, the fun and adventure shared, and the lasting memories that have been created from traveling with best friends. 

“We have always believed that traveling builds more than just character and life experiences. In an eventful place such as Malaysia, you can also build lasting memories, memories that you will cherish forever especially if built with close friends and family.  In this endless celebrations theme lies a call for people to take these celebration with them long after they have returned home,” shares Dato’ Mirza.

For this new campaign, Tourism Malaysia would like to position itself as a best friend to a certain extent who is looking out for their visitors, who wants them to have fun, who caters well to their needs, and helps create the best memories during your travels. Likewise, the campaign would also like to imbibe the feeling that Malaysia remains to be a destination of choice for families and friends who are looking for a very enjoyable vacation. He adds, “This special campaign inspired by the Filipinos’ love affair with selfies and picture taking, focuses on not just keeping but on sharing these lasting memories captured digitally and immortalized on social media. In as much as I would love to think that all of us here are all BFF’s, I want to let all Filipinos who have at least once travelled to Malaysia know that we consider all of them and the future generations of countless Filipinos who will take time out to visit my beloved Malaysia, as our best friends forever and my hugs and kisses go out to all of them.”

And given that Tourism Malaysia ensures guests of a very enjoyable time, the BFF campaign is a great way to let others know what exactly they can expect from trip – through the experiences of those who have already been to Malaysia. The campaign encourages travellers who have been to Malaysia to post their favorite vacation photos on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #mybffxoxo, which also qualifies them to win special monthly prizes from Tourism Malaysia, as well as the grand prize for the promotion – a three days/two nights stay in Malaysia accompanied by his or her best friend (or family member). 

With so many things lined up as well as more events and attractions being held and being put in place in this charming country, Malaysia is happy to inform Filipinos of what they can expect from their trip. 

Another special Networking and Open Discussions event will be held in Cebu last June 10, at the Sampaguita Ballroom of Cebu City Marriott Hotel.

For more details, visit: www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my

https://www.facebook.com/taranasamalaysia