Tourism Malaysia is expecting 8 lakh Indian arrivals this year, said Dato Azizan Noordin, Deputy Director General (Planning), Tourism Malaysia.
“India is the sixth most important source market for Malaysia Tourism and the numbers continue to be encouraging,” he said.
Until October 2014, Malaysia received 6.43 lakh Indian tourists, which is almost a 20 per cent increase from 5.32 lakh in the same period last year.
Noordin is in the Capital to promote the destination. He is leading a sales delegation and is accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Tourism, State representatives, and trade fraternity.
Despite unfortunate incidents such as the Malaysia Airlines crash and others, the tourism board managed to re-strategise and find new markets, he said. “By October 2014, we received a total of 2.28 crore tourists, a growth of 9 per cent,” Noordin added.
Tourism Malaysia has launched Malaysia Year of Festivals (MYFest) 2015 with the theme ‘Endless Celebrations’ to showcase the country’s culture and festivities as a tourist attraction.
“We are targeting 3.6 crore foreign tourists overall by 2020,” he said.