Ministry of Tourism and Tourism Malaysia call PR pitch

It is understood that this is the first time that the Government body has worked with a PR agency in Malaysia.

The tender is being handled by TM's procurement division and almost all registered agencies in Malaysia are believed to have been invited to bid for the lucrative piece of business.

The reason for the pitch is “the increase in the promotion of domestic tourism activity” in the country, a spokesperson said.

It is believed that DDB PR was handling the Ministry of Tourism’s account in Malaysia until May this year.

The last few months have seen most of the tourism body’s offices in 23 countries including India and the UK putting their PR accounts out to pitch. Hills Balfour Synergy has held the UK account for last two years and is believed to be repitching.

In April this year Tourism Malaysia and ISC Group jointly launched a website, Malaysia: Truly Business, to present Malaysia as one of the world's most attractive destinations for business.

In October last year, speculation mounted that the US$44 million Tourism Malaysia (TM) advertising account would be reviewed if the Government body's director-general Mirza Mohammad Taiyab was found guilty of corruption charges. The controversy erupted last year over claims Mirza Mohammad had received dental implants sponsored by directors of Pakar Media.

In February, Tourism Malaysia (TM), whose global creative account is split between nine agencies, was reportedly seeking to consolidate its account with two agencies - TBWA and Sen Media-JWT.