GEORGE TOWN, May 6 — After a two-year hiatus, the Malaysia International Travel Mart (MITM) travel fair will be back in July this year and targeting a sales turnover of RM70 million.

The last time the Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA) organised the MITM travel fair was in 2019 at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur. It had stopped for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

MCTA president Paul Paw said the MITM Travel Fair 2022 is scheduled from July 8-10 at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre and the Penang government is the official sponsor for the event.

"We are expecting a high turnover of RM70 million this year, on revenge tourism and (rising) demand for tourism products after the two-year lockdown due to the pandemic,” he told reporters here today at an event to promote the travel fair.

He reckons that with over 292 exhibition booths confirmed, the MITM Travel Fair 2022 is set to attract more than 70,000 visitors.

Paw said apart from the MITM travel fair in Kuala Lumpur, Penang will also host the same MITM travel fair on July 2-3 while Perak will host it on July 1-3.

Earlier, the Penang government, represented by Penang Global Tourism, inked a memorandum of understanding with MITM to become the official sponsor of the event. The state will be widely promoted during the MITM travel fair.

Penang state councillor of tourism and creative economy Yeoh Soon Hin said the state government, being the official sponsor for MITM Travel Fair 2022, will provide Penang with a wider reach to domestic and international travellers. ”We will be exhibiting the diverse faces of Penang in eight exhibitions that are located at premium locations and (will present the state) as ‘Malaysia’s Preferred Destination’ during the three-day travel fair,” he added.

Yeoh said the state government has been constantly promoting and developing the tourism industry to transform Penang into a premier, sustainable, diversified and smart tourism destination, adding that it is determined and committed to all efforts to reboot the state tourism sector.

"Even though we see an overwhelming response and influx of domestic tourists into the state during the recent long holidays, we must not be complacent. To return to the pre-pandemic glory days, there are still a lot of stumbling blocks we need to (overcome),” he said. — Bernama