The tourism agencies of Malaysia and Singapore have agreed on a
two-year marketing campaign to jointly promote their two countries
as tourist destinations.
For a start, they will target the US, Middle East and Russia.
They will also carry out activities to promote tourism flow between
the two countries.
These include offering visitors from across the Causeway
complimentary admission to tourist attractions.
The agreement followed discussions between officials from both
sides on the sidelines of the ASEAN Tourism Meetings in Davao city
in the Philippines.
The Malaysian delegation was headed by Tourism Minister Dr Leo
Michael Toyad while Singapore's was led by Minister for Community
Development, Youth & Sports and Second Minister for Trade &
Industry Dr Vivian Balakrishnan.
A joint statement from Malaysia Tourism and the Singapore Tourism
Board identities initial activities for the joint marketing
campaign.
To promote bilateral tourism flow, Singapore could offer visitors
from Malaysia complimentary admission to various attractions on the
island on a mutually-agreed date.
Malaysia will do the same for visitors from Singapore.
At the same time, Tourism Malaysia will identify three visitor
centres in Singapore to promote their tourist attractions while the
Singapore Tourism Board will do likewise in Malaysia to promote the
island state.
The meeting also agreed to revive the Malaysia-Singapore Tourism
Games to allow for the tourism industry to establish and renew ties
in an informal setting.
Dr Toyad says he is positive these initiatives will result in more
creative and exciting tour programmes in Singapore and
Malaysia.
Dr Balakrishnan hopes the marketing campaign will pave the way for
closer cooperation for the benefit of tourism on both sides of the
Causeway. - CNA/ir