Susan (left) with Japanese speakers of the Visit Japan Travel Meet Seminar held at Le Meridien Hotel Kota Kinabalu.
KOTA KINABALU: The Japan National Tourism Organization is targeting 160,000 Malaysian tourists to travel to Japan this year.
Its deputy director of Singapore office, Susan Maria Ong, said the organization was optimistic about achieving the target, especially with the recent announcement of the Japanese government of allowing Malaysians to travel to the country without Visa.
“As for January to July this year, a total of 81,000 Malaysians had traveled to Japan. This is a positive number for us, hoping we can surpass last year’s record of 130,000 Malaysians travelling to Japan.
“Apart from the visa exemption, the recent announcement of Japan being picked to host the 2020 Olympic Games is another attraction for Malaysians to experience the leading international sporting event, which is only five to six hours travel by air,” Ong said this at a Seminar and Business Matching on 2013 Visit Japan at Le Meridien here yesterday.
The event was held in the city in conjunction with the recent MATTA fair in Kuala Lumpur.
About 30 travel companies attended the event, where they were introduced and told about what products and services they can sell to Sabahans.
Since the number of Muslim visitors from Malaysia was increasing every single year, Ong added that Japan National Tourism Organization had launched its Japan Travel Guide of Muslim Visitors Book, to give as much information as possible about Muslim friendly restaurants, major mosques in Japan and some of the information about the country’s climate.
“Although Muslims are a minority in Japan, its tourism industry players play their role to ensure their services are suitable to various beliefs and culture.
“As for example, Kansai International Airport in Osaka has expanded the number of prayer rooms and supporting needs of Muslim visitors in the country. All prayer rooms and ablution spaces for use before praying will be separated by gender,” she said.
The half-day event was attended by Head of Consular Office of Japan in Kota Kinabalu, Hirofumi Morikawa.