Nancy is seen during a photo call for the ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on May 26, 2022. Park is at right. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Tourism Malaysia and Expedia Group, the world’s travel platform, today announced a joint-marketing collaboration to support Malaysia’s domestic and international efforts to promote tourism to Malaysia.
Aligned with Tourism Malaysia’s tourism promotion strategies, the agreement will see both parties embark on an Expedia Group Media Solutions global campaign to promote inbound travel from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to Malaysia. The joint campaign will spotlight Malaysia’s hidden and unique tourist attractions, as well as promote the variety of accommodation to Expedia Group’s over 750 million monthly visitors globally.
A press release said this timely strategic collaboration will support Malaysia’s target of achieving two million tourist arrivals and RM8.6 billion in tourist spending, set for its national ‘Malaysia Truly Asia 2022’ campaign.
In the presence of Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia Dato Sri Nancy Shukri, Tourism Malaysia, which was represented by director-general Dato Zainuddin Abdul Wahab, and Doug Park — Operations and Services vice-president at Expedia Group Media Solutions, executives representing both parties exchanged documents of mutual appreciation and support for a strategic partnership between Tourism Malaysia and Expedia Group.
As part of the collaboration, Tourism Malaysia and Expedia Group will also launch a series of marketing campaigns in key global markets like Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, to drive international inbound tourism to Malaysia.
“As the world’s travel platform, Expedia Group is proud to be embarking on this journey with Tourism Malaysia to promote and help Malaysia rebuild its reign as a top tourist destination in the region, connecting Malaysia’s tourism industry to millions of travellers in Expedia Group’s worldwide network,” said Park.
Nancy added, “The Internet of Things (IoT) is no longer a stranger to us, and we have become comfortable with this new norm. It is only crucial for the tourism industry to step onto the bandwagon and be one with this new trend and lifestyle.”
In addition, the ceremony introduced nine media partners, namely Astro, Media Prima Omnia, Star Media Group, RTM, Sinar Harian, Nanyang Siang Pau, The Borneo Post, Free Malaysia Today, and BFM 89.9 Radio, as well as two advertising platforms, which are KLIA TV and AEON, who will work together with Tourism Malaysia in enhancing the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia Campaign for the year 2022, to produce series of branded content/niche program emphasising on the PRE 2.0 projects, to cater for the local market.
In the next phase, Tourism Malaysia will be looking into more collaborations with other local media that have shown tremendous commitment to the industry.
Nancy also took the opportunity to acknowledge and sincerely thank all media friends that have been supporting the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia Campaign, especially during the challenging times.
“Tourism Malaysia will be intensifying the campaign together with these respective platforms through various means, including electronics, print, and digital, covering tourist destinations within Malaysia. A special thanks to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government Malaysia (KPKT) for providing us with their digital billboards across the states in Malaysia,” she said.
She also acknowledged all local medias that has been with Tourism Malaysia, supporting the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia Campaign throughout these years.