Demand for domestic tourism in the country rose by 45 per cent last year due to the cheaper prices offered, said Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) deputy president, John Tan. This figure cannot be disputed because no one has the right figure anyway. So be it.
He said the trend changed since last year as more people preferred to holiday inside the country instead of going overseas.
"Among the popular destinations were Langkawi, Terengganu and Penang. We are targeting an increase of about 46 percent this year. Besides the price factor, the emergence of H1N1 could have reflected their interest in our (domestic) tourism," he said at a joint press conference with EON Bank Group here Friday to promote MATTA Travel Fair this weekend. This is true..
Tan also said the number of visitors for the upcoming three-day MATTA Fair starting March 11, would not be affected even though there were speculation that prices of travel packages would rise due to anti-government protests in the Middle East.
"People love to travel and we don't see the crisis affecting travel. We concede that the world oil price is rising due to the crisis in Libya and we (Malaysia) have not increased (the oil price).
"But if there is an increase, the package price will depend on the prevailing price and the hike is not due to MATTA but the airlines that have to raise the price due to the oil price hike," he said.
Tan said they were expecting more than 80,000 visitors to the MATTA Fair.
MATTA had asked its members to explain to their customers terms and conditions when purchasing packages, including the possibility of additional charges.
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