Tourism Malaysia and Tencent to create digital ecosystem

Wednesday 4th of April 2018

Tourism Malaysia has teamed with China's Tencent Holdings to create a digital tourism ecosystem aimed at helping the Southeast Asian nation gain a greater share of the outward Chinese tourism market.

Malaysia Smart Tourism 4.0 will help the country reach Chinese residents using precision marketing methods, such as market segmentation and targeted advertising, local media reports.

“The world is now undergoing the so-called fourth industrial revolution which will see growth being driven by huge amounts of data exchange, advancements in technology and the development of high-tech interfaces,” the reports cited Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz as saying.

“For the tourism industry, this will have a huge impact on how people travel and in this new demanding environment, tourism-related businesses must either transform the way they operate or lose out on opportunities.”

A digital ecosystem refers to an interdependent group of enterprises, people and/or things that share standardised digital platforms.

Tourism Malaysia Chairman Datuk Siew Ka Wei said the initial phase of the initiative would include the joint production of 40 five-minute videos on Malaysia’s tourist offerings and make them available to the Chinese market.

“This will include hotels, food and other experiences that will be documented and made available to potential customers who will be able to see for themselves what is available here.”

Direct marketing of casinos is forbidden under Chinese law.

Bricks & Mortar Joint venture Outbound tourism Digital ecosystem Tourism numbers