KUALA LUMPUR: The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has ranked Malaysia the ninth most travelled to destination in the world last year, said Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen. She said although 2009 had been a difficult year for tourism globally, it was a good year for the Malaysian tourism industry.
The Malaysian tourism industry contributed RM1 billion per week to the economy in 2009, providing employment to over one million Malaysians.
"It is the government's commitment to ensure that the Malaysian tourism industry continues to flourish and to provide the best tourism experience to tourists from all over the world," she said in her speech at the Colours of 1Malaysia 2010 programme at Dataran Merdeka here Saturday night.
The programme, an annual event organised by the Tourism Ministry, was opened by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin.
Also present were the Raja Permaisuri Agong, Tuanku Nur Zahirah, and Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.
This year's "Colours of 1Malaysia" celebration is a huge parade, interspersed with street performances to show off Malaysia's unique tourism products, like the homestay, food and fruit fair, mega sales, shopping, beautiful beaches and resorts and eco-tourism.
There were also performances by the three main ethnic groups in Malaysia, comprising the Orang Asli, with their "Sewang", the Chinese and Indians with their respective traditional dances.
Other performances included a dikir barat, involving 5,500 participants, a performance which has been entered into the Malaysia Book Of Record as a show with the largest number of participants. -- Bernama
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