The visibility level might be low in several parts of the country, residents in Sarawak may be complaining about asthma attacks , but for Tourism Malaysia director-general Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, the haze situation is still not alarming at all.

However he added that haze would surely have an impact on the industry if the current situation deteriorated.

And he was quick to warn that the number of tourists might drop if the foreign media played up the issue.

"Let's hope it doesn't get any worse," Mirza was quoted as saying in Bernama today.

"Twenty-percent of all tourist arrivals come for the environment. Our attraction is nature-based," he added.

He said that Malaysian cities were not the only ones to suffer from haze.

Most major cities in the world, including those classified as the cleanest cities, also face problems of smog, he said.

"I remember being in Tokyo and the API (Air Pollutant Index) at that time was between 80 and 100, and there was no fuss about it. Here, they made it a major issue," he said.

Mirza said that Malaysia has only been experiencing average haze problems since the worst haze in late 1990's.

He also said that Tourism Malaysia was taking steps to ensure a continuous arrival of tourists during the haze.

Mirza said the tourism department was focusing more on highlighting haze-free tourist destinations in the country.

"We talk more about areas that are not affected or are not badly affected. We have to play up these places because we don't want the haze to affect our industry," he said.

Unhealthy air

Tourism is Malaysia's second-largest foreign exchange earner. Officials are targeting 20.1 million visitors for 2007 generating revenue of RM44.5 billion.

Malaysia hopes to attract 17.5 million tourists and achieve revenue of RM37.6 billion this year, up from 16.4 million tourists producing RM32 billion in 2005.

The country today registered one of the worst haze situations in recent weeks, with air quality in four states deteriorating to unhealthy levels.

Forest fires raging out of control in neighbouring Indonesia's Sumatra island and in Kalimantan have been blamed as the cause of the smog.

Environment department data on today showed air quality in nine areas in Sarawak at unhealthy levels of between 100 to 200 on the Air Pollutant Index.

Air quality hit 133 in the southern coastal area of Tawau in neighbouring Sabah, which is a transit point for tourists travelling to nearby dive spots.

Air quality was unhealthy in the tourist destination of Malacca, with one location there posting a reading of 100. It registered 109 in Nilai town in neighbouring Negri Sembilan.

Lee Choon Loong, the vice-president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents, said the haze had not yet hurt tourist arrivals.

"It has not affected inbound arrivals. We hope it does not get to that stage," he said, referring to the haze crisis of 1997 which affected millions of people in Southeast Asia and did major damage to the tourism industry.