The government has designated 2007 as "Visit Malaysia Year" in conjunction with the Southeast Asian nation's 50th year of independence, and has lined up a smorgasbord of events to attract tourists.
"If the islands are enveloped in haze, it would be bad for us," said Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Director General Mirza Mohammad Taiyab.
Malaysia is forecasting 17.5 million tourists in 2006, and is expecting numbers to rise to 20.1 million next year, officials said. The figure for 2005 was 16.4 million.
Revenues are expected to come in at just over 44 billion ringgit (US$11.95 billion; euro9.38 billion) in 2007, a rise of nearly 20 percent from 2006's projected numbers.
Mirza said the government is not unduly alarmed by the haze drifting in from Indonesia because of forest fires.
"What we are seeing today is still not alarming yet," Mirza said at a news conference to launch a regional eco-tourism conference. "It may appear bad to us, but most major cities will have a certain degree of smoke and haze," he said.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, was shrouded in haze Wednesday, with the landmark Petronas Twin Towers hardly visible from a few kilometers (miles) away.
Also Wednesday, unhealthy air quality was reported in eight districts of Sarawak state and one town in neighboring Sabah state on Borneo island, the Department of Environment said on its Web site.
Both are major tourist destinations.
Haze from forest fires is an annual occurrence during the dry season as farmers in Indonesia and sometimes Malaysia burn vegetation to clear land. Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia have all said they are affected by open burning from neighboring Indonesian provinces.
Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents vice president Lee Choon Loong said they haven't received any negative reports from tourists about the haze, and he did not think it would hurt revenue if current conditions prevailed.
"We've gotten used to it," Lee said.
Reference By: www.chinapost.com.tw
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