Tourism Malaysia will open more representative offices in China, the biggest outbound market in Asia, as more and more affluent Chinese go abroad for holidays.
It currently has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and a representative office in Chengdu.

Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor said another representative office will soon be added in Xian and the next could be in Kunming.

"China is an important tourist market for Malaysia and we are strengthening our efforts here," said Tengku Adnan who is visiting Kunming for the first time to coincide with the China International Travel Mart 2007 which opened Thursday.

Tengku Adnan said Malaysia was on track to meet its target of wooing one million Chinese tourists in the current Visit Malaysia 2007 drive, with first half-year figures surging 80.8 per cent to 376,000.

Malaysia is among top 10 destinations for the nearly 30 million Chinese who travelled abroad in the first nine months of this year, up 17 per cent from the same period in 2006.
 
Tengku Adnan said he would seek the Cabinet's approval to extend Visit Malaysia Year 2007 to Aug 31, 2008 to mark a year-long celebration of Malaysia's 50 years of nationhood.

"We will need to offer more activities to keep with the changing trends. In addition to tourists spots, people are also interested in free independent travel, high-end goods, pursuits and exciting events," he said.

He said Malaysia will host the International Jewellery and Watches Exhibition at the Starhill Gallery in Kuala Lumpur next month during the Monsoon Cup season.

He said the exhibition themed "A Journey Through Time" is normally staged in Basel, Switzerland, and the key exhibit will be a single diamond worth US$50 million.

Tourism is Malaysia's second biggest foreign exchange earner after manufacturing. The country has set the target of attracting 20.1 million tourists and generate tourist receipts of RM45 billion (US$13.5 billion) this year.