Bangkok, March 27, 2012 — Golfasian, South-East Asia’s leading dedicated inbound golf tour operator is expanding its involvement in Malaysia through a joint venture with Diethelm Travel Malaysia, one of the country’s most respected travel agencies. Golfasian’s managing director, Mark Siegel, says the tie-up between the two companies will substantially increase inbound golf tourism to Malaysia. “There is considerable potential for more foreign golfers to visit Malaysia. Our two companies have the knowledge, reputation and experience to make Malaysia a much larger and more important golf holiday market than it is now,” he said after the joint venture was announced this week. “Malaysia has a long golf history, numerous wonderful courses, excellent tourism infrastructure and high service levels expected by international golf tourists. It is the third largest golf destination in South-East Asia and is destined become bigger in the future.” Diethelm Travel Malaysia’s managing director, Manfred Kurz, said although the company already had a presence in golf tourism in the region, its new involvement with Golfasian signalled expected future escalation of business in the growing market sector. “Golf tourism is getting more interesting. Golf is very popular in Malaysia and we believe there is considerable potential to develop this business.,” he said. “Malaysia has exciting courses, beautiful holiday destinations, wonderful sightseeing and relaxation. We have high hopes of attracting more visitors on specialist golf trips as well as holiday-makers who want to play golf among their other activities.” Golfasian will undertake the sales and marketing of golf tours to Malaysia on behalf of the joint venture, while Diethelm Travel Malaysia will provide on-the-ground services. The joint venture will operate as a business unit within Diethelm Travel Malaysia. Golfasian and Diethelm Travel Malaysia will showcase their new joint venture at the International Association of Golf Tourism Operators convention in Kuala Lumpur next month (April 22-24). The event, which will attract tour operators from around the world, will itself be a significant boost for golf tourism to Malaysia. Diethelm Travel Malaysia is part of the Diethelm Travel Group, which has been operating in South-East Asia for more than 50 years. Golfasian was launched in 1997 and is the largest and fastest growing dedicated golf tour operator in Asia. Recently the company reported year-on-year growth of 68 percent in turnover and 23 percent growth in client numbers. This year, Golfasian is expecting a further lift in inbound golf tourism bookings to more than 6,500 to all its Asian destinations. —————————————————————————————————— For more information, contact: Paul Myers, Asian Travel Media, Bangkok Email: paul@asiantravelmedia.com Tel: +66 (0) 84 125 1894