Bandar Seri Begawan - Malaysia recorded a total of 17,378,040 tourist arrivals during the first nine months of 2009, indicating a sign of continuous growth of tourists to the country. It represented an increase of 6.4 per cent compared to 16,329,855 for the same period in 2008.

During September 2009, tourist arrivals grew by 24.9 per cent from 1,599,418 in Sept 2008. The Assistant Minister of Ministry Urban Development and Tourism Sarawak, Datuk Hj Hamden Ahmad, revealed this at the recent official launching I of the Sarawak Division Malaysia Year End Sale (MYES) at the Bintang Plaza Megamall in Miri.

Also in attendance during the launch were Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Urban Development and Tourism Sarawak, Encik Ik Pahon, Encik Ahmad Johanif, State Director of Tourism Malaysia Sarawak, Encik Ganie Ugay, Miri Division

Resident, as well as Jamilah Abd Halim, Tourism Malaysia Director, stationed in Brunei, as well as officials and staff members of Tourism Sarawak.

According to a media release from Tourism Malaysia, the top 10 tourists generating markets for Sept 2009 were Singapore (1,137,426), Indonesia (207,302), Thailand (106,079), Brunei (85,109), China (including Hong Kong and Macau - 74,319), Australia (48,270), India (43,733), Japan (38,654), the Philippines (36,397) and the United Kingdom (34,001).

For the same month, double-digit growth was recorded for tourist arrivals from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Poland, Iran, South Africa, Myanmar, Singapore, Cambodia, France, Australia, Laos, Vietnam, India, the UK, Russia, Sweden, Indonesia, the Philippines, Italy, Germany, Thailand, Switzerland, USA, Norway and Finland. The MYES in Sarawak started on Wednesday and will end January 3 next year.-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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