Fear of the so-called swine flu had led to some reduction in tourist arrivals into the country and it was very noticebale among tourists from China and Japan, she said Wednesday.

"The Chinese market every year around this time in July would be making bookings for October. Many of the tour operators have reported a drop in forward bookings by 50 per cent," she told reporters at the launch of an athletic club in Klang, near here.

Dr Ng said she would be travelling to five large cities in China -- Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Shenzen and Guangzhou -- where most Chinese tourists to Malaysia came from.

She also said the tourism industry must address the quality of local tourism products like public toilets and tour guides.

Dr Ng said her ministry planned to build toilets and privatise them to be run and maintained by micro entrepreneurs like single mothers and the low income group, adding that they did not need much capital to maintain the cleanliness of the facilities and could charge for use of the toilets.

She said she had received complaints that some Malaysian tourist guides were untidy in their appearance and did not wear the collared batik shirt as required by the tour guide licensing conditions issued of the ministry.