After the much-talked-about demotion of Datuk Dr Ammar Abd Ghapar, Manoharan Periasamy has been appointed as Tourism Malaysia director-general.

In a post shared on Tourism Malaysia’s Facebook page, the board congratulated Manoharan after his appointment on Monday (Feb 26).

Manoharan had served three terms as director of Tourism Malaysia for India and senior director for international promotion (Asia & Africa).

During his previous post, he had established the first National Tourism Organisation (NTO) office in Mumbai, India in 2001.

Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing had said that Ammar was unable to perform well and, as such should give way to another person.

Ammar, who was appointed to the post in April last year, was given a four-day notice about the “penamatan lantikan” (service termination).

The letter, signed by Tiong and dated Feb 22, stated that the termination was to take effect on Feb 26.

A second letter addressed to Ammar stated that he would be made deputy director-general (planning). His grade – Pegawai Ehwal Ekonomi Gred Utama B – remains the same.