Malaysia is currently targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM49.3 billion in tourism receipts this year. India remains to be among the top countries to contribute tourist arrivals to Malaysia, according to YB Tuan Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture.
In 2022, Malaysia welcomed a total of 3,24,548 Indian tourists while in the first quarter of 2023, it received as many as 164,566 Indian tourists compared to 13,370 in the same period last year, he said at a press meet here.
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Currently, there are 158 flights with 30,032 seats offered weekly between India and Malaysia through Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia, and IndiGo. Indian tourists can now apply for Malaysia’s eVISA Multiple Entry Visa (MEV) through https://malaysiavisa.imi.gov.my/evisa/evisa.jsp.
He was in Kochi for the second road show across tier two cities from August 14 to 25. The road show kicks off in the city of Amritsar followed by Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune, Goa, and Kochi. It is participated by 45 local organisations comprising hotels and resorts, travel agents, tourism product owners, visa consultants, Malaysia-based airlines, and representatives from state tourism boards.
Following its first successful road show to five major cities in India that took place from 30th January to February 7, as well as its participation in the recent South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) 2023 and Travel Wedding Show in Udaipur, Tourism Malaysia aims to further expand its promotional efforts to the country through this second series.
The two-week-long show is packed with networking programmes including B2B sessions, seminars, and emphasised promotions on niche segments such as wedding, golfing, filming, and shopping. In addition, it also serves as a platform for Tourism Malaysia to highlight the next anticipated Visit Malaysia Year which is scheduled to take place in 2026.