Malaysia is ‘Best International Tourism Destination'

US-based travel magazine, Global Traveler, has voted Malaysia the ‘Best International Tourism Destination’ for the second year in a row. The award, received by Tourism Malaysia’s Deputy Director General, Datin Dalilah Ahmad, is a result of a survey conducted by the magazine amongst its readers over the course of the majority of 2007, in which it asked open-ended questions to evaluate the best in 49 categories of business and luxury travel.

Other winners include Hawaii (Best US Destination), Singapore Airlines (Best Airline), Seoul Incheon Airport (Best Airport), SkyTeam (Best Airline Alliance), Hotel Bel-Air (Best US Hotel), Gleneagles, Scotland (Best International Golf Resort) and Mandarin Oriental (Best Hotel Chain in Asia).

The good news follows hot on the heels of the Asia Property Trends Survey 2007, released by Asia property specialists, iProperty.com, which revealed that Malaysia ranks as the ‘top choice for investors’ in the region, closely followed by Singapore and Thailand. It is widely believed that, in line with the continuing shift in economic power to Asia – particularly to India and China – the Asia Pacific region will continue to lead world tourism growth in 2008, helped along by the upcoming Olympic Games being held in Beijing this summer. The forecasts, based on the Asian Travel Monitor, as well as on interim inbound arrivals data gathered by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the European Travel Commission (ETC) – show that Asia Pacific continues to be the fastest growing inbound and outbound tourism region in the world, with Asian inbound arrivals up by more than 10% in 2007, up on their 8% rise in 2006.

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