BOGOR, Jan 11 — Tourism Malaysia is targeting the arrival of some 100,000 Indonesian amateur golfers this year, in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign.

Tourism Malaysia’s director in Indonesia, Roslan Othman, said the agency is now working with golf clubs in Indonesia to jointly promote Malaysia as a golfing destination.

"Every year, Malaysia becomes the focus of attraction for amateur golfers from all over the world, with more than 370,000 golfers generating more than RM1 billion for the country’s tourism industry.

"Last year, we achieved our target of receiving 3.6 million Indonesian tourists in Malaysia. This year, we are aiming for four million tourist arrivals, including those who come to golf,” he said during the Asean Tourism Golf Tournament (ATGT) 2020 press conference here today.

Meanwhile, ATGT 2020 president Datuk Sahariman Hamdan said the inaugural tournament was also aimed at promoting Visit Malaysia 2020.

"The ATGT involves three countries, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand for 2020, and in its second year, we hope to see more countries participating,” he said.

The tournament, which is expected to attract some 500 amateur golfers, will begin at the Phuket Golf Country Club in June, followed by the Horizon Hills Golf & Country Club in Johor, in August, the Rainbow Hills Golf Club in Bogor, in September, and the Lanjut Beach & Golf Resort in Pahang, in December. — Bernama