Malaysia cuts tourism target

Malaysia cuts tourism target

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia has lowered its targets on tourist arrivals for the next three years following last year's poor showing, a newspaper said Saturday.

This year, Malaysia hopes to attract 6.8 million tourists, a sharp drop from an earlier target of 10.5 million visitors. The country has set a target of seven million for 1999 and 7.5 million for 2000, the Business Times said.

Last year, Malaysia registered 6.2 million arrivals, a 13 percent fall from the 7.1 million tourists who visited Malaysia in 1996.

The Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism, Sabbaruddin Chik attributed the decline in arrivals to the regions's economic and financial downturn.

There were fewer arrivals from Asia, which is Malaysia's largest source of tourists, he said.