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TOURISM
DatukDr. OngHongPeng, Malaysia’s SecretaryGeneral of theMinistry of Tourism
andCulture, speaks to
FireFlyz
about the country’s newest TourismPromotion
initiative, MyFEST2015.
also geared towards promoting Malaysia
as a land of peace and harmony with
diverse ethnic groups celebrating our
cultures and heritage.
Will it be able tomaintain themomentum
started off by Visit Malaysia Year 2014
(VMY 2014) in terms of tourist arrival
and revenue?
Yes, I am optimistic that MyFEST 2015
will leverage on VMY2014 to gain greater
momentum to heighten the performance
of the tourism industry. In this regard,
new record levels of tourism performance
will be set with an expected increase of 1.4
million tourist arrivals and RM13 billion in
foreign exchange earnings. This optimism
can be attributed to the strong commit-
ment of the Government by designating
Interestingly, the MyFEST 2015 logo is
based on a traditional musical instrument,
a drum known as the rebana ubi. Drums
feature widely in major ethnic cultures
in Malaysia, thus, the drum is a musical
instrument that can be associated with a
multicultural society in Malaysia, in line
with the 1Malaysia spirit. In this light, the
logo’s design reflects an important part of
the heritage, traditions and cultures of this
country, whilst also heralding the festival
theme in MyFEST 2015.
What are themain objectives of MyFEST
2015?
MyFEST 2015 aims to promote Malaysia
as a top tourist destination. Towards
this end, the target is to attract 29.4 mil-
lion tourist arrivals and generate tourist
receipts of RM89 billion. MyFEST 2015 is
Can you tell usmore about MyFEST
2015?
The Malaysia Year of Festivals 2015 or
MyFEST 2015 in short, is a national
agenda that was announced by our Prime
Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak
during the Budget 2015 speech.
MyFEST 2015 celebrates the diversity
of culture and festivals in Malaysia with
festivities, events and happenings all year
round; reaching out to both domestic and
international tourists. With the “Endless
Celebrations” theme, MyFEST 2015 also
enhances our “Malaysia Truly Asia”
branding to attract more tourists.
The festivals and events encompass
all genres including cultural festivals,
shopping festivals, sports festivals, arts
and music festivals, food festivals and
thematic festivals.
Year-long Festivities Galore
with MyFEST 2015