For the second time in a row, Malaysia was voted the Best International Tourism Destination by the Global Traveler Magazine. Malaysia beat other strong competitors including Italy, Spain, Thailand and United Kingdom.

Global Traveler Magazine conducted the fourth annual survey of its readers from 1 February to 31 August 2007, with open-ended questions for the best in 49 categories of business and luxury travel. A total of 15,828 completed questionnaires were received. The questionnaires were made available as an insert in subscriber copies of the magazine and online at the Global Traveler website, www.globaltravelerusa.com/readersurvey.

For those who have been to Malaysia, this result comes as no surprise, as the country not only offers excellent nature, dream beaches and interesting sights, but at the same time an outstanding price-performance-ratio. Reisereport 2008, a service website for luxury trips at budget prices compares Malaysia to Italy (in second place): tourists often pay much less than 100 Euro per night for the best hotel in Kuala Lumpur, while in Rome, they easily pay 500 Euro or more for the same.

Winners in other categories include Hawaii (Best US Destination), Singapore Airlines (Best Airline), Seoul Incheon Airport (Best Airport), SkyTeam (Best Airline Alliance), Hotel Bel-Air (Best US Hotel), Gleneagles, Scotland (Best International Golf Resort) and Mandarin Oriental (Best Hotel Chain in Asia).

Mrs Ivana Trump from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) presented the awards in New York on 16 January 2008. Receiving the award on behalf of Tourism Malaysia was Tourism Malaysia’s Deputy Director General, Datin Dalilah Ahmad. The ceremony was attended by over 300 travel industry professionals, many of whom have donated to LLS.