PART A Tourism on the rise in Malaysia despite association with plane tragedies KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the two airplane tragedy in 2014, tourism sector grew at its fastest pace since 2008. Data from January to October 2014, 22.9 million visitors have arrived showing an increase of nearly 10 percent from a year earlier. This has far beaten the 2.5 percent growth for the same period in 2013 and a 0.7 percent rise in 2012 There is still a strong growth in tourism despite a sharp drop in visitors from China due to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March last year. For January to October 2014, Chinese tourists to Malaysia have dropped by 11 percent or some 175,000 people. Nevertheless, China remains Malaysia's third biggest source of visitors into the country Tourism Malaysia, deputy director-general Azizan Noordin said that the body has cut promotions in China and focused efforts on India and other markets after the disappearance of Flight MH370. This has helped boost growth in all markets for the first 10 months of last year. Arrivals from India, which is the 6th biggest source of visitors for Malaysia, have increased 21 percent whilst the tourists from South Koreans have increased by 43 percent. According to the tour and travel agents, the industry has also benefited from a weaker currency in the last quarter of the year, making Malaysia more attractive to foreigners Malaysia ringgit depreciated by 10 percent against the dollar in the last four months Cheaper air travel and more numerous flights, primarily due to the expansion of low-cost carriers in the region, also helped drive tourism At the same time, Malaysia has extended its tourism campaign, designating 2015 as "Year of Festivals" with a goal to attract 29.4 million tourists and RM89 billion (USD24.7 billion) in total receipts. According to Azizan, Tourism Malaysia is working closely with China to increase more scheduled chartered flights flying direct to the country from China's second and third-tier cities such as Wuhan and Chengdu. Last month, the government has also waived visa fees for Chinese tourists to help the market recover faster Adapted from The Associated Press Online, March 2, 2015 a) Describe the percentage growth in tourist arrivals into the country from year 2012 to 2014 (3 marks) b) Based on paragraph three, state two (2) countries that have contributed to the increased in tourists arrival for the first ten month of last year. (1 mark) c) Briefly describe three (3) factors mentioned in the article that have benefited the tourism industry in the country (5 marks) 6 e) Based on paragraph six, explain the two (2) measures on how to attract more tourists from China into the country. (4 marks) Tour agencies can be considered to be in the monopolistic competition market Explain three (3) characteristics of a monopolistic competition market (6 marks) Tourism on the rise in Malaysia despite association with plane tragedies KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the two airplane tragedy in 2014, tourism sector grew at its fastest pace since 2008. Data from January to October 2014, 22.9 million visitors have arrived showing an increase of nearly 10 percent from a year earlier. This has far beaten the 2.5 percent growth for the same period in 2013 and a 0.7 percent rise in 2012. There is still a strong growth in tourism despite a sharp drop in visitors from China due to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in March last year. For January to October 2014, Chinese tourists to Malaysia have dropped by 11 percent or some 175,000 people. Nevertheless, China remains Malaysia's third biggest source of visitors into the country. Tourism Malaysia, deputy director-general Azizan Noordin said that the body has cut promotions in China and focused efforts on India and other markets after the disappearance of Flight MH370. This has helped boost growth in all markets for the first 10 months of last year. Arrivals from India, which is the 6th biggest source of visitors for Malaysia, have increased 21 percent whilst the tourists from South Koreans have increased by 43 percent. According to the tour and travel agents, the industry has also benefited from a weaker currency in the last quarter of the year, making Malaysia more attractive to foreigners. Malaysia ringgit depreciated by 10 percent against the dollar in the last four months. Cheaper air travel and more numerous flights, primarily due to the expansion of low-cost carriers in the region, also helped drive tourism. At the same time, Malaysia has extended its tourism campaign, designating 2015 as "Year of Festivals" with a goal to attract 29.4 million tourists and RM89 billion (USD24.7 billion) in total receipts. According to Azizan, Tourism Malaysia is working closely with China to increase more scheduled chartered flights flying direct to the country from China's second and third-tier cities such as Wuhan and Chengdu. Last month, the government has also waived visa fees for Chinese tourists to help the market recover faster. Adapted from The Associated Press Online, March 2, 2015 a) Describe the percentage growth in tourist arrivals into the country from year 2012 to 2014