Malaysia is looking at an over 20 per cent rise in arrival of Indian visitors to 8 lakh for the current year, as it woos them with an intense sales pitch promoting newer destinations.
“We are targeting an over 20 per cent growth in Indian guests to 8,00,000 in 2015 as it is a very important market for us,” Tourism Malaysia Deputy Director General Dato’ Azizan Noordin
He was speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board to promote Malaysia Year of Festivals (MYFest 2015) here.
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board or Tourism Malaysia is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia. India is sixth top tourist generating market for Malaysia. During January-October 2014, the country had 6,43,335 Indian tourists, he added.
When asked about the initiatives the Tourism Promotion Board is taking to increase the number of Indian visitors, Noordin said: “We are promoting newer destinations and are placing lots of emphasis on theme parks.”
The other focus segments are weddings and honeymooners besides adventure tourism, MICE and medical tourism, he added.
“We have launched sales mission in India today. We will also be visiting Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad to promote Malaysia as a tourist attraction,” Noordin said.
Tourism Malaysia will also be launching a number of promotional initiatives and apart from television and print advertising, focus will also be on tour operators, he added.
“Though the focus on major cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai will continue, we will also target other places such as Kolkata and Kochi among others. We are also looking at tier II and Tier III cities,” Noordin said.
MYFest 2015 is expected to see around 29.4 million global tourists visiting Malaysia and generating receipts of up to RM 89 billion (1.00 MYR is equal to about Rs 17.45) he added.