TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A national travel association in Malaysia has dubbed Taiwan “Asia’s Favorite Destination” as the number of Malaysian tourists visiting Taiwan continues to climb year after year.

On Friday, Feb. 15, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) recognized the growing popularity of Taiwan among Malaysians, and noted that the upward trend of tourism to the country will likely continue.

In 2018, over half a million Malaysians traveled to Taiwan, according to the Sun Daily.

The designation of Taiwan as “Asia’s Favorite Destination” by MATTA comes as the association is preparing to further promote tourism to Taiwan in cooperation with the Taiwan Tourism Bureau as the 2019 MATTA Travel fair scheduled for March 15-17.

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau is reportedly preparing to host 20 different booths at the travel fair to showcase the many different aspects of Taiwan’s culture and landscape.

Matta Vice-President Cynthia Tan noted that the travel fair will be an excellent opportunity to boost tourism between the two coutnries for the coming year. She was quoted by Sun Daily.

“Recorded numbers for Taiwan tourist arrivals to Malaysia grew 20.5% to 311,140 last year, while 526, 129 tourists recorded from Malaysia to Taiwan.”

The report also notes Taiwan successful efforts to appeal to Muslim travelers in recent years. According to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s Global Muslim Travel Index, Taiwan ranks fifth as the most welcoming country for Muslim travelers.

Last year, the Taiwan Travel Bureau teamed up with popular Malaysian actress Mira Filzah, to launch the "Salom Taiwan" tourist campaign. Together they created a short video clip to attract young Malaysian travelers to the country.. 

MATTA and the Taiwan Tourism Bureau will be offering a wide range of deals, packages and some giveaways at the MATTA travel fair next month, March 16-19 at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.