KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: The Malaysian Mega Sale Carnival will be back from July 5, bigger, better and with more incentives.

The ninth annual carnival will be held at major shopping malls, hypermarkets, flea markets and night markets nationwide.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said more late night shopping sprees would be introduced to cater to late night shoppers, mostly foreigners from the Middle East and Indonesia.

"From the moment of the launch till the end of the shopping season, shoppers can look forward to themed sales promotions, shopping contests, redemption programmes and entertainment shows," said Azalina at the soft launch of Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival at the Malaysia Tourism Centre (MTC) yesterday.

She also said that for the first time ever, a shopping tour package, priced between RM55 and RM295 per person, would be introduced to bring tourists to key shopping locations.

The package offers coach tours and private tours by limousines for 31/2 hours.

More than 100,000 tourist privilege cards will also be distributed at hotels, shopping malls and the KL International Airport to encourage more tourists to shop.

The card offers a discount of up to 50 per cent at selected hotels, spas, food and beverage outlets, and department stores nationwide.

MasterCard Worldwide, the official card for the Mega Sale, is offering cardholders the chance to win cash prizes of up to RM100,000 through its "Shop, Eat and Rejuvenate with MasterCard Programme".

The carnival will begin on Sept 1 in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur at Sunway Pyramid, Ikano Power Centre, The Curve, One Utama, Mid Valley Megamall, The Gardens, Berjaya Times Square and the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. The finale will be held in Bukit Bintang on Sept 1.

Late night shopping sprees will start at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur on July 5, JB City Square in Johor Baru on July 9, Sunway Pyramid, on Aug 29 and Gurney Plaza, Penang, on Aug 31.

The Giant hypermarket in Puchong and Bachang Utama, Malacca, will also extend operations hours to midnight on Aug 2, 30 and 31.

The ministry is expecting a surge in tourist arrivals from 20.9 million last year to 22.5 million this year with a targeted revenue of RM45 billion.

Shopping is the second highest contributor to tourism earnings after accommodation. Last year, shopping contributed RM12.2 billion in tourism revenue, a 26 per cent increase from 2006.

The ministry expects shopping revenue to increase by 30 per cent to RM16 billion this year, with tourists from the Middle East, India, China, Indonesia and Vietnam accounting for the bulk of it.

Meanwhile, a five-week taxi campaign called "My Taxi, My Trusted Host" was also launched yesterday in the Klang Valley.

The campaign, aimed at educating taxi drivers to be courteous, friendly and honest, will run for the next five consecutive Tuesdays to coincide with the Middle Easterners peak arrival period.

"I will meet the taxi drivers soon to discuss ways to turn them into the country's ambassadors," said Azalina, adding that taxi drivers were important as they were the "front liners" in promoting the country.