Tourism Minister on sales mission to Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine

During the visit, Ng is expected to attend trade meetings with key tourism trade players and hold media sessions with the local media in updating them on the latest tourism developments in Malaysia.

Based on records, Russian visitors to Malaysia has been growing from 16,868 in 2007 to 26,308 last year, which is a 56 per cent growth, and in the first six months of this year, 9,218 visitors from Russia have visited Malaysia.

Malaysia targets some 25,000 tourists from Moscow alone this year, and among the segments being promoted in Russia were leisure holidays, adventures and eco trips with destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Borneo, and the various islands.

According to Tourism Malaysia statistics, the average Russian tourist spent about RM402.70 (US$115.70) per day and their average duration of visit was 8.5 days.

Last year, revenue from Russians tourist to Malaysia was estimated at RM90 million, which is an increase of 57.3 percent compared to RM57.2 million from 2007 and according to World Tourism Organization (WTO) statistics, Russians were the 10th highest travel spenders in the world.

While here, Ng will visit several tourist attraction such as The State Hermitage Museum, the Summer Garden, Peterhof Garden before proceeding to Moscow for product updates and visits to the New Bolshoi Theatre, Red Square and Tretyakov State Galery.

In Kazakhstan, Ng is scheduled to deliver a speech at the 18th session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly which will be held in Astana, the capital city and second largest city of the country, after meeting tour operators in Almaty its largest city.

As for Kazakhstan and Ukraine, according to statistics from Euromonitor International, some 268,000 people from Kazakhstan and 9,152,000 Ukranians were forecast to depart for outbound destinations this year, Kazinform cites BERNAMA.

See www.bernama.com