Southeast Asian tour operators are diversifying their markets with offers to exotic destinations like Mongolia and Indochina to cushion the blow of a war in Iraq, an industry group said today.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) president Tunku Iskandar Tunku Abdullah said war jitters have led to a shift from long-haul travel to shorter flights to Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

But he said the industry was more prepared now than it was during the 1991 Gulf war which led to a slump of more than a year. Tour operators have also become more innovative after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

"The effect is quite small at the moment," Tunku Iskandar told a news conference.

"After Sept 11, I think Southeast Asian tourism players are quite resilient now. We know more what to do, we know how to diversify our markets. We know how to look for new destinations."

He earlier announced that some 250 Malaysian tour and travel agents would offer cheap tickets and promotional packages at a three-day Matta international travel fair starting Friday.

100,000 visitors

Despite the looming war, Matta projected a sales turnover of over RM150 million, up from RM110 million recorded during the previous travel fair in October.

Nearly half of the turnover is expected to come from Malaysia Airlines, which projected sales of up to RM75 million o­n tickets being offered at discounts of between 35 and 50 percent.

Tunku Iskandar said Matta could achieve its target as sales in previous fairs after the Sept 11 tragedy and the bombing in the Indonesian island resort of Bali last year had surpassed its expectations.

Matta expects some 100,000 visitors to the fair, which is held twice a year during the traditional low-peak seasons in March and October to boost tourism, the country's second largest foreign exchange earner.

Untapped destinations

Organising chairman Ronald Chan said this year's fair focused more o­n travel to untapped destinations such as Mongolia, Indochina, South Korea and Nepal.

To encourage people to travel, he said some "proactive" companies at the fair would offer full refunds for travellers who cancel their tours if war breaks out.

Sixteen state-owned tourism boards including those from Australia, China, Dubai, Egypt, Luxembourg, India, Japan and New Zealand are taking part, as well as airlines and hotels. AFP