MALAYSIA EXPECTS 1 MILLION TOURISTS FROM INDIA IN 2017

This year, Malaysia is looking forward to attracting one million tourists from India and has strengthened its tourism promotion efforts in a bid to achieve this target.

Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, the Tourism and Culture Minister asserted that in 2017, Malaysia is confident of achieving a large number of tourists from India, at the inaugural ceremony of South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE), Delhi, on Tuesday evening.

Nazri said that the target was quite ambitious

However, he added that the target was ‘achievable’ thanks to the complete support of their partners in the Indian travel industry. The three-day SATTE travel fair had commenced on Wednesday. It was jointly opened by Mahesh Sharma who is the Indian Minister of State for Tourism and Culture and also Mohamed Nazri.

The visiting Malaysian delegation comprises officials from the Tourism and Culture Ministry, Tourism Malaysia, members of the travel industry and the state representatives.

India ranks as the sixth largest source of tourists for Malaysia with 722,141 Indian travellers recorded in 2015.

Malaysia received about 54,0530 Indian tourists in the period between January and October last year, as per the latest statistics. Furthermore, this country has relaxed its visa procedures to strengthen tourism in 2017. Last year, the government had introduced an e-visa facility that enables the issuance of single-entry visas within 24 to 48 hours.

Of late, Malaysia has also announced that Indian nationals who reside abroad would be granted visa-free travel.

Such a measure is targeted at the greater number of non-resident Indians based in regions like North America, Australia, Britain, Singapore and the Arabian Gulf nations.

The country has in place a brilliant program for destination marketing with a view to impress travellers from India.

The minister went on to add that India has been viewed as a crucial market for Malaysia. The largest Indian diaspora living abroad actually stay in Malaysia and they are the most important ambassadors who has good potential promote Malaysia to the world.

Mohamed Nazri also mentioned that Malaysia is ready to focus on sustainable tourism.

In addition, the nation has already offered niche products to Indian tourists including destination weddings, honeymoons, sports tourism, luxury travel and shopping. He feels that Malaysia is a unique country as it is blessed with many heritage sites and natural charm, apart from its four Malaysian sites that are recognized by UNESCO.

He said that there is the Kinabalu National Park, Gunung Mulu Naitonal Park in Sarawak and Kinabalu National Park in Sabah, as well as the archaeological heritage site of the Lenggong Valley.

Source: travelandtourworld

4 COUNTRIES WITH THE BEST HEALTH CARE IN THE WORLD 2017

One of the main concerns of any person looking to retire overseas is the quality of healthcare. Is it possible to get medical treatment as good as what's available in the U.S. and Canada? The answer…a resounding yes. Sometimes it's even better than what's on offer at home, and at a more affordable price too.

Measuring the quality of healthcare is difficult, and it's hard to put a number on it. We can, however, put a number on the price of medical procedures. And these costs (as well as quality) helped us score each of the 24 countries in the healthcare category of International Living's 2017 Global Retirement Index.

Read on to learn more about the top five countries in the world for healthcare. In each of these countries you'll find clean, excellent hospitals, highly trained doctors, and very affordable care.

1. Malaysia: Medical tourism is booming

A stronger U.S. dollar, cheaper air travel, mounting healthcare costs in Western countries (and long waiting lists), have all contributed to the Malaysian medical tourism boom in the past decade. Medical tourists arriving in Malaysia have increased on average by 100% in the last five years.

George Town and Kuala Lumpur are the main two medical centers in Malaysia, and both cities are serviced by a multitude of international airlines from around the world.

Malaysia has some of the best-trained doctors in Asia–and the majority of them were trained in the U.S., Australia, or the UK. All of them speak English too, and that takes a lot of the stress away from what is already a stressful situation.

Getty Images

Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur City

A stronger U.S. dollar, cheaper air travel, mounting healthcare costs in Western countries (and long waiting lists), have all contributed to the Malaysian medical tourism boom in the past decade. Medical tourists arriving in Malaysia have increased on average by 100% in the last five years.

George Town and Kuala Lumpur are the main two medical centers in Malaysia, and both cities are serviced by a multitude of international airlines from around the world.

Malaysia has some of the best-trained doctors in Asia–and the majority of them were trained in the U.S., Australia, or the UK. All of them speak English too, and that takes a lot of the stress away from what is already a stressful situation.

Western accreditation is also a vital component for confidence in undergoing foreign medical treatments. Numerous hospitals in Penang and Kuala Lumpur are among Southeast Asia's first recipients of the United States' prestigious Joint Commission International (JCI) certification. Seen as the gold standard for healthcare service providers around the world, Malaysia has no less than eight JCI-accredited hospitals.

That being said, there are also some very good "not for profit" hospitals here too. One of best is The Lam Wah Ee Hospital in Penang. I've had two operations there, and I can't say enough about their professionalism.

The most popular areas of treatment across the board in Malaysia include cosmetic surgery, dental work, and dermatology. In 2016 Malaysia was visited by more than 1 million medical tourists from around the globe, a figure that is certain to rise in 2017.

Other considerations to take into account are that there is little to no waiting time when you arrive. It's as simple as registering at the hospital of your choice and then waiting for that particular specialist to see you. You also don't need to be referred to that particular specialist by a General Practitioner. – Keith Hockton 

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KNIGHT FRANK RATES MALAYSIA AS WORLD'S BEST FOR REAL ESTATE INVESTORS

KUALA LUMPUR: Global real estate consultancy Knight Frank has rated Malaysia as offering the best value for money for real estate investors in the world, and the highest yields and least volatility in the market across the Asia-Pacific region.

Knight Frank LLP's 2017 Global Cities report, which analysed real estate markets across 30 countries, favourably cited Malaysia, where a prime office building of over 390,000 sq ft could be purchased for just US$100 million.

"Coupled with the step-up on transport infrastructure development, which increases mobility and connectivity throughout Greater Kuala Lumpur, this transformation gives the city the edge, and represents the best value propositions for any multinational corporations (MNCs) or investors in the Asia-Pacific region," said Knight Frank Malaysia managing director Sarkunan Subramaniam at the 2017 Global Cities report briefing here yesterday.

The report, however, said that Kuala Lumpur's prime office rents are forecasted to experience negative growth at 1.1 per cent.

In addressing this, InvestKL Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Zainal Amanshah said instead of seeing the downturn as unfavourable, the negative growth positions Malaysia as an attractive business location for MNCs and investors.

"Kuala Lumpur today has several business hubs for investors to choose from.

"Global MNCs are looking at the city's fluid business ecosystem and cost-competitive factor as favourable advantages, compared to other major cities in the region.

"Kuala Lumpur's competitive real estate rates, cost-effective talent and generally lower operations costs are main criteria considered," said Zainal.

As of 2015, InvestKL has attracted 51 MNCs with a cumulative approved or committed investment of RM5.9 billion.

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