Malaysia Widens Global Tourism Appeal
Magnificent Malaysia is a fascinating nation that has emerged in recent years as one of the most sustainable economic success stories of the Asian region. It is therefore of no surprise that predictions for the continued expansion of the country’s economy are positive, and that the greater promotion of Malaysia’s appeal as a tourism destination and a second home location is proving highly successful.
Even in these uncertain global economic times, Malaysia is managing to remain in a robust position with average annual GDP appreciation in the region of an incredible 6%. This is because the government remains active in diversifying the economy away from a dependence on the export of raw materials to achieve a status where today, Malaysia’s is an emerging multi-sector economy benefiting from the fact that foreign exchange reserves are healthy and external debt levels are low.
As an oil and gas exporter, Malaysia has benefited significantly in recent years thanks to higher global energy prices, but the government of the nation has not rested on its laurels because of this. Rather it has sought to attract significant and sustainable levels of foreign direct investment through advantageous taxation and fiscal incentives, and the government has been active in the direct promotion of Malaysia as a stunning place to visit as well.
So far the government has actively supported foreign direct investment in the real estate industry in particular by abolishing restrictions on the foreign freehold ownership of property, by eliminating real property gains tax and by making the entire property ownership process transparent and straightforward. This has drawn great interest to a nation which has an active and affluent property scene and which offers a far lower cost entry point into the regional real estate market compared to other favourites such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
In addition to this, the government designated 2007 ‘Visit Malaysia’ year, and they maintained a concerted effort of international promotion that pushed visitor numbers up by 10.5% last year alone, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s statistics. Going forward, this massive promotional push has been backed up by solid ongoing investment into the tourism industry and related infrastructure in Malaysia, and now the nation is beginning to diversify the travel market further in efforts to draw even greater numbers of visitors.
At the moment Malaysia is targeting Nepalese tourism arrivals, seeking to push levels up to 100,000 annually – and Indian arrivals, which they hope to push up to 500,000 by year-end. On top of this, the Malaysian tourism board is now marketing the nation to Muslim travellers and seeking to accommodate all their requirements – from mosques to halal cuisine. The nation has already managed to significantly increase tourism arrivals from Scandinavia, Russia and China and now Malaysia is also focusing on niche tourism angles such as eco-tourism so that it can draw even more significant and sustainable interest from across the world.
Examining the Tourism Malaysia visitor figures for the past six years, one immediately recognises how all these sustained efforts are already paying off. From 10.58 million visitors arriving annually back in 2003, Malaysia now manages an annual average of at least 20 million visitors, and the World Travel and Tourism Council predict that the nation is on track for between a 5 and a 7% annual increase in visitor arrivals between now and 2017.
To cope with the increasing visitor numbers, Kuala Lumpur International Airport which is located in the Sepang district of Malaysia is undergoing a series of expansion initiatives to develop more runways, more terminal buildings and to increase passenger handling capacity to 130 million passengers by 2020. What’s more, certain areas of the nation have been designated tourism hotspots and they are receiving sustained and considerable investment as well.
Sepang is one such region – it is home, as mentioned, to Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and it is also home to the Sepang International Circuit. This is the Malaysian F1 venue and it is widely regarded as being the benchmark for other Grand Prix venues too, so significant is its impressive design as well as its state of the art facilities. But Sepang has far more in its favour than a world class motorsport track and a global air transportation hub – it has one of the most stunning stretches of coastline in the world.
Dubbed ‘the longest coastal paradise in Asia,’ Sepang’s GoldCoast is being transformed into one of the most important tourism destinations in Malaysia that will attract both local and international visitors and become a property investment hotspot.
The overall development of the coastline is being done in an ecologically sustainable way, with moderate density housing and maximum emphasis being placed on the protection and enhancement of the perfect natural environment.
Many of the proposed property and resort developments along Sepang’s GoldCoast are being constructed out over the warm calm sea so that the surrounding ecologically rich areas are untouched by urbanisation or development. One such groundbreaking development is Golden Palm Tree Water Villas where luxurious properties are being developed for sale to investors and second home seekers, and where the properties in questions are built on stilts over the ocean.
Following Polynesian and Maldivian architecture, the high-grade homes and the fabulous facilities of the Golden Palm Tree Water Villas development are finished to 5 star modern Malaysian standards inside. Comprising 366 villas, the resort development will also boast swimming pools, gyms, meeting rooms and a business centre, a spa, coffee terrace and a library. In the immediate vicinity there is a theme park, shops, restaurants and an abundance of leisure activities on offer, and what’s more, these properties come with a built in investment package. This allows investors to remain as hands off from their Malaysian property assets as they like whilst still reaping a substantial predicted profit. Prices start from £147,709.
For more information contact Experience International on 0800 612 0901 or visit www.experience-international.com.