SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN, 19 October 2023 – Malaysia will host the official celebration of World Tourism Day (WTD) 2025 under the theme of ‘Tourism and Sustainable Transformation’. YB Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia was present at the 25th session of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on 19 October 2023 to formally accept the designation of Malaysia as host country of WTD 2025.
YB Minister took the opportunity to express his heartfelt appreciation to UNWTO member states for supporting Malaysia’s nomination representing the East Asia and the Pacific region as WTD 2025 host country. “Malaysia looks forward to welcoming global tourism leaders and delegates from all 159 UNWTO member states to this significant global event, which will be hosted in the world heritage city of Melaka”, he said.
“The early foundation of Malaysia as we know it begins in the historical city of Melaka – starting with the great Malay sultanate and the arrivals of the Portugese, Dutch and British – all leaving a mark of the country’s colonial past in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, the city is a bustling tourist destination renowned for its rich culture and heritage, which reflects the coming together of religions and cultures from the Malay Archipelago, India and China with those of Europe,” Tiong remarked.
“The Melaka River, once a prominent port of entry for traders from Europe and Asia during the late 16th century, has since undergone a massive transformation and is now a well-known tourist attraction offering scenic views of colonial buildings, antiquated shophouses, local settlements and ancient bridges, as well as modern and local art displays,” he said.
Tiong added that the global celebration of WTD 2025 in Malaysia would serve as part of a grand Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign with the target of 26.1 million tourist arrivals and RM97.6 billion in receipts. “Malaysia looks forward to intensifying opportunities to host signature events that have a strong multiplier effect to further boost tourism recovery. Within the period of 2024 to 2026, it is expected that a total of 156 international conferences and business events will be held, worth about RM2.3 billion in economic impact,” he said.
World Tourism Day is commemorated each year on 27 September to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value.
Also present as part of Malaysia’s delegation to the 25th UNWTO General Assembly was Datuk Mohd Zamri Mat Zain, Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia, Datuk Wira Abdul Razak Abdul Rahman, Melaka State Tourism Exco and Datuk Wira Zaidi Johari, Melaka State Secretary.
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