Malaysia Sets Target of 23,000 Tourists from Kazakhstan in 2017

Malaysia aims to attract 23,000 tourists from Kazakhstan this year, a double-fold increase over the previous year. The target has been set by the country's Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

In 2016, Malaysia received 26.8 million tourists and, out of the total volume, only 10,717 tourists were from Kazakhstan.

"This year's projection can be achieved through the launch of the Holiday and Shopping Packages being offered with prices ranging from US$690 to US$1,078 starting this month until November," Deputy Minister, Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said.

"The packages offer three different choices of product – the shopping and cultural package includes return flight tickets to Kuala Lumpur, a seven-night stay and transportation from the airport," she told Malaysian journalists after launching the Holiday and Shopping Packages in conjunction with the Kazakhstan Expo 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan recently.

The second choice is the beach package, that includes return flight tickets to Sabah and Langkawi while another one is the education package.

Mas Ermieyati was also optimistic the introduction of these packages could increase tourist arrivals from other countries in the Central Asia region, including Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.