MATTA Fair March 2014 recorded 90,273 visitors — the highest number of visitors thus far, despite the situation with the haze and water rationing.

Held from March 14 to16 at the Putra World Trade Centre, its tagline was: “It’s all about quality, not quantity”

In September last year, the fair recorded over 83,000 visitors.

Organising chairman Judy Cheah told StarMetro it was an unexpected and overwhelming response.

“The March fair has proven that people will still travel whether it is for business or leisure, despite the haze, water rationing or the economic situation.

“Despite it being a working day, the first day recorded the highest turnout among all Matta Fairs, with a record 20,280 visitors,” she said.

Travel packages for Malaysia, especially Johor, was the top choice for travellers, followed by China, Japan, Europe, and the United Kingdom.

“Singapore Airlines was among the airlines recording higher sales compared to the earlier fair.

She was happy that the fair garnered positive feedback from exhibitors and visitors.

“Exhibitors reported good sales and most did better than the last fair and visitors complimented the way the fair was organised and its layout, saying that it was systematic and the service was good.

“It was also easy to identify the staff and marshalls with their ‘May I help You’ T-shirts.

“They also benefitted from the tips given by the organising committee on how to shop wisely and to check with the national tourism organisations when in doubt,” she said.

There were several contests to reward visitors and buyers and even a contest for exhibitors.

“From the feedback we gathered, visitors were pleased that the organising committee recognised them by rewarding them with the Visitors Hourly Draw where a total of 260 prizes were given away.

“Exhibitors were also happy that we rewarded them for their effort in helping us create the ambience and to upgrade the fair with the Best Booth Award,” she said.

The award went to Apple Vacations for the Special Design category and Poto Travel for the Shell scheme category.

The exhibitors won cash prizes of RM3,000 and RM2,000 respectively.

It was also the first time the organising committee focused on domestic packages.

“In conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2014 and to help stimulate domestic travel and in support of Tourism Malaysia, we had the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 contest.

“Visitors and exhibitors were so happy that we had a contest that offered travel vouchers of RM3,000, RM2,000 and RM1,000 sponsored by MATTA,” she said.

The Buyers’ Contest offered the top prize of two Business class tickets to London inclusive of surcharges and taxes (sponsored by Singapore Airlines).

There were also performances to entertain visitors and one of the attractions was an appearance by a kimono-clad Hello Kitty mascot that was specially flown in from Japan’s Sanrio Purioland by the Japanese National Tourism Organisation.

“In a way, I have grown with the fair — I was the chairman for 1999, 2000 and 2001 (then known as the MITF).

“That coincided with the years when I was the deputy president of MATTA (1999-2003).

“Now as the first-elected chairman of the newly-formed MATTA Kuala Lumpur Chapter and taking over the ‘reins’ of the MATTA Fair March 2014 chairmanship again this year, I am glad to see how the MATTA Fair has evolved over the years and its popularity has grown.

For the first time, she said, Tourism and Culture Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Ong Hong Peng and Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Mirza Mohammad Taiyab attended the opening ceremony.

“The organising committee also share the sadness of the affected families of passengers and crew aboard MH370 and together we offer our prayers.

“Visitors can express their solidarity and moral support for the affected families by placing their messages and names on a board that is placed at the entrance,” she said in her speech at the opening ceremony.

The next fair will be in September.