That's right, Malaysia's tourism industry plans to include birdwatching as a major tourism attraction, to help generate more income for the hospitality, transport and food industry in Malaysia.

According to Tourism Malaysia's deputy chairman Datuk Seri Maznah Mazlan, this activity has the potential to develop into something big considering the substantial number of enthusiast it attracts. According to Maznah, in UK alone, the number of birdwatchers had reached a whopping 1.6 million, while in the US, there are over 30 million birdwatching enthusiasts!

Birdwatching is also not a cheap activity. According to Maznah, a study in the UK found that bird enthusiasts are willing to spend up to 5,000 pound sterling for each watch. This includes the money spent on trip preparation and air travel.

Examples of viable birdwatching location would be the Australasian route used by migratory birds from Siberia, Russia and islands of Japan as a stopover. Migratory birds' aside, Malaysia alone has more than 700 species of local birds!

Source: The New Straits Times