JEDDAH, 5 September 2006 — The number of Saudi summer tourists to Malaysia has seen a dramatic increase this year, according to Zalizam Zakaria, the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Zakaria said the figures for the entire season have not been released yet but the number of visitors from the Kingdom so far this year has been higher than previous years indicating that Malaysia is a highly popular choice for Saudi tourists.
In July 2005 the number of Saudi visitors to Malaysia was 6,837 while this July the number has jumped to 10,788. Zakaria said the exact figures for the season should be available by late September. “But considering the current trend, we can speculate that there is an increase of up to 40 percent compared to last year,” he added.
He said Asia had become a favored destination for Saudi families especially because of the problems they face in the West. “Malaysia has been attracting more and more tourists from the Middle East, mainly from Saudi Arabia, for many reasons including high-quality facilities, reasonable prices and the ease of access,” he said.
Zakaria added that due to the increasing number of tourists from the Middle East, the Malaysian government has dedicated a street in the heart of the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to the Middle East.
The idea of “the Arab Street” was conceived two years ago but was implemented only this year.
A large monument and a gate indicating the street name were constructed in the Bukit Bintang area. Over the last three years, the area has witnessed an increase in Arabian restaurants and shops — something that reflects a huge rise in demand.
“The plan is for facilitating more such businesses in the Arab Street, so that Arab tourists can easily find the food they like and engage in habits they are used to such as smoking the sheesha (hubble-bubble),” said the tourism official.
In order to assist the growing number of Arab customers, restaurants and shopping centers in the area temporarily hire students from the Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur who could speak fluent Arabic.
