Malaysia To Target One Million Indonesian Tourists In 2006!

[Dr. J George]

I NEARLY FELL OFF MY SEAT LAUGHING AT THIS STATEMENT – MALAYSIA TO TARGET ONE MILLION INDONESIAN TOURISTS IN 2006!

Interestingly, Malaysian Tourism Minister, Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad, now in Indonesia to woo more tourists to Malaysia, believes that the target of one million tourist arrivals from this island republic this year is within reach.

He says that the target was based on a 44.8 per cent increase to more than 821,000 arrivals registered for the first 10 months of 2005 compared with the corresponding period in 2004.

Accordingly it is stated most of the arrivals or 60.6 per cent, were repeat visitors while their average length of stay was 9.7 days with average spending of RM1, 400 to RM2, 100 per person!

Promoting Malaysia here as a value-added-travel destination, he further stated that the Indonesian market had proven to be a strong and viable venture for Malaysia.

It was the third largest contributor in visitor arrivals, after Singapore and Thailand!

Dr Toyad stated that the Indonesians loved Malaysia for shopping, sightseeing, visiting friends and relatives, attending conferences, seeking health and medical treatment and education.

What he forgot was, we already have perhaps more than 2 million unwanted 'illegal tourist' making a living in this country and perhaps, many among them carrying Mykads as well!

[expat1609]

yup, exactly my first thought when reading the title loooooooool
and yes, he is talkin bout arrivals only, no departures mentioned

What he forgot was, we already have perhaps more than 2 million unwanted 'illegal tourist' making a living in this country and perhaps, many among them carrying Mykads as well!

so it must have been 1 million allready in the 2004 and 2005 statistics

[Teeque]

And furthermore, we will have cases of Police abuse of Indonesian 'tourists' added to their profile now. And we then hv to send our Home Minister for a 'free trip' there to give explanations for the bungles of the agencies of the Internal Security Ministry and the ill-conceived plans of the Tourism Minister.

[Jose Mourinho]

Act of desperation and scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

[alexhay]

Out of the 1 million tourist, for sure more than half will stay back here...hmm....

By the way, did he include those that came in via sampan and tongkang ??

[cherry]

By the way, did he include those that came in via sampan and tongkang ??

Does swimming counts too... We already have that figure donkey years ago. I do agree that some already have Mykad number as follows ..(yy/mm/dd of birth).. - (numbers that do not range from 01-14) - ..(4 digit).. I keep on asking myself this question..why do these foreign workers or their employers allow them to bring their wife to their temporary homes(house under construction, plywood cottage) and breed?

[sirgalahad2010]

Dr George seems to be unduly fond of criticising whatever the Msian govt does. It seems that he has a one-track, blinkered view of what happens in Msia. Or, maybe, he has his own agenda to pursue?

I see no reason why Msia should not encourage more tourists from Indonesia to visit. They can eat, shop, take advantage of our medical facilities and, perhaps, invest in upmarket Msian real estate.

After all, Indonesians are already one of the largest sources of tourists for Singapore. The Spore tourism authorities are avidly courting Indonesian tourists - you just have to look at the number of flights between Spore and major Indonesian destinations.

To have the issue of Indonesian tourists deliberately confused with that of illegal immigrants is both specious and misleading.

Like I said, perhaps Dr George has his own axe to grind. It would be nice if he were to admit it upfront rather than having people draw conclusions from his acerbic, or even truculent, posts.

[Jose Mourinho]

Wow......

[bobkee]

Sheesh .. any idea how racist and xenophobic some of the folks in this thread sound?

I thought we'd be mature enough to tell the difference between an illegal immigrant originating from Indonesia (which without a doubt is a problem) and a tourist from Indonesia who enters this country legally.

[mallanhead]

I think what most of us always think of Indonesian are those who works in Malaysia as a labourer, maid and etc. Those rich one are less visible. But one things for sure, the rich are really rich and think nothing of spending money. Those are the one we are really targeting. Isnt it? They are everywhere here in Aussieland with their expensive designer label attire and so on. And you know its them because they speak Bahasa Indonesia. So there is nothing wrong with targeting the Indonesian as long as they are they right one.

[bobkee]

And you know its them because they speak Bahasa Indonesia. So there is nothing wrong with targeting the Indonesian as long as they are they right one.

And who makes the moral judgement about which Indonesian is the "right" one?

[layman]

Dr George seems to be unduly fond of criticising whatever the Msian govt does. It seems that he has a one-track, blinkered view of what happens in Msia. Or, maybe, he has his own agenda to pursue?

I see no reason why Msia should not encourage more tourists from Indonesia to visit. They can eat, shop, take advantage of our medical facilities and, perhaps, invest in upmarket Msian real estate.

After all, Indonesians are already one of the largest sources of tourists for Singapore. The Spore tourism authorities are avidly courting Indonesian tourists - you just have to look at the number of flights between Spore and major Indonesian destinations.

To have the issue of Indonesian tourists deliberately confused with that of illegal immigrants is both specious and misleading.

Like I said, perhaps Dr George has his own axe to grind. It would be nice if he were to admit it upfront rather than having people draw conclusions from his acerbic, or even truculent, posts.

axes to grind?

the official inflation rate is 3%,MMR2 debacle is due to poor design and the inclement tropical weather.

do we have to agree?

[idolfan]

Dr George seems to be unduly fond of criticising whatever the Msian govt does. It seems that he has a one-track, blinkered view of what happens in Msia. Or, maybe, he has his own agenda to pursue?

I see no reason why Msia should not encourage more tourists from Indonesia to visit. They can eat, shop, take advantage of our medical facilities and, perhaps, invest in upmarket Msian real estate.

After all, Indonesians are already one of the largest sources of tourists for Singapore. The Spore tourism authorities are avidly courting Indonesian tourists - you just have to look at the number of flights between Spore and major Indonesian destinations.

To have the issue of Indonesian tourists deliberately confused with that of illegal immigrants is both specious and misleading.

Like I said, perhaps Dr George has his own axe to grind. It would be nice if he were to admit it upfront rather than having people draw conclusions from his acerbic, or even truculent, posts.

aisehman galahad...drgeorge shouldn't have the distinct credit of being "unduly fond of criticising whatever the Msian govt does. It seems that he has a one-track, blinkered view of what happens in Msia. Or, maybe, he has his own agenda to pursue?" unfortunately most of us who make efforts to type out our opinions dun have sweet bouquets for the authorities .. you would have to agree that authorities can do a better job in running the country.

Its up to the reader to see the irony if any at all in the lead post. I dun see any misleading statements from the author..

there are other posts including mine and yours which might be read as bitter and pugnacious.. cause for reflection dun u think ?

[mallanhead]

It is not wrong expecting the right one to tour malaysia, isnt it? They one that does not overstay or work here illegally and etc. The right one does not have to be rich. Who make the moral judgement that they are the right one? The tourist themself. As long as they know what is wrong and what is right, they are most welcome. And if they have money, that is better too. If they just want come and tour only, also can. We accept everyone. The right one. What is so wrong to be the right one. When you tour a foreign country, in your mind you will know that you will always come back. When you are there, you follow whatever law of the country. But if even before stepping feet in that foreign country, you already set in your mind that you are not coming back, that is wrong. Especially doing it illegally. But I guess any other country in this world would expect the same one. It not only limited to the Indonesian but to all those who come to Malaysia. We hope that they are a genuine tourist.

[KakiLang]

How come no one mentions abt China tourists? There are many China nationals who come in as tourists but overstay to make money, and yet our Ministry of Tourism still promoting Malaysia as a tourist place in China....