The sensational and negative reports in the Chinese media have the potential to stoke fear among the races and affect the Visit Malaysia Year 2007, said Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor today.

He said the media should be working with the ministry to ensure the Visit Malaysia Year is a success as the government has spent RM200 million for this purpose.

"The Visit Malaysia Year will fail if the media focuses too much on sensational and negative reports that can affect the confidence of tourists," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

He said the media must learn from the May 13, 1969 racial riots incident.

The local media bust be careful so that other quarters, especially the foreign media, do not take advantage of the situation to expose the country's problems and accuse Malaysia of practicing racism, he added.

Economic powerhouse

In his speech earlier, Adnan said the government wants to turn the tourism sector into the nation's second economic powerhouse after the manufacturing sector.

He said the strength of the tourism industry lies in the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural composition of Malaysia.

"The Visit Malaysia Year 2007 will rake in about RM3 million for the locals in rural areas. It's not only the major players who will benefit, petty traders and trishaw riders will also reap the profits," he added.

The Tourism Ministry has allocated RM200 million for promotional expenditure and tourism action committees nationwide.

Tengku Adnan estimates that 20.1 million tourists will come to Malaysia next year and spend approximately RM44.5 billion.