KUALA LUMPUR: The government, relevant agencies, industry players and stakeholders must actively promote Malaysia beyond Kuala Lumpur, encouraging repeat Indian visitors to explore the attractions in Sabah and Sarawak.
Tourism Malaysia director-general Manoharan Periasamy said Malaysia remains a popular destination for Indian travellers, and more so with visa-free entry.
“Increased flight connections and direct routes from India play a crucial role in Malaysia’s efforts to boost its tourism sector by significantly reducing travel time compared to connecting flights, making Malaysia more accessible and attractive to Indian tourists.
“The availability of direct flights stimulates demand for travel to Malaysia, leading to a significant increase in tourist arrivals from India.
“Direct routes open Malaysia to a wider range of Indian travellers, including families, younger generations, and budget travellers, thus allowing Malaysia to target the Indian market more effectively with specialised marketing campaigns and promotions tailored to Indian travellers’ interests and preferences,” he told SunBiz.
Manoharan said the number of tourist arrivals from India to Malaysia has shown consistent growth. The significant increase can be attributed to various factors, including improved air connectivity, visa-free access and targeted marketing efforts.
From January to June this year, Malaysia recorded 537,493 Indian tourist arrivals, compared to 283,885 during the same period last year, representing growth of 89%.
Manoharan said increased air connectivity could also facilitate closer collaborations between Malaysian and Indian airlines and travel agencies, leading to joint promotional initiatives.
Air Asia has expanded its routes to connect second-tier and third-tier cities in India this year, including Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Visakhapatnam, Trivandrum, Calicut, Guwahati and Lucknow, and added two flights from Trichi and Kochi.
Furthermore, Air India will launch daily flights to Kuala Lumpur starting from Sept 15, adding to the existing 217 weekly flights, with 40,635 seats from India to Malaysia. The expansion will greatly improve connectivity from 17 cities in India to Malaysia, making travel more convenient.
Manoharan said the Tourism Ministry’s robust marketing strategy had led it to participate in many business-to-business and business-to-consumer events throughout India.
“To further promote Malaysia’s appeal to the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibition sector (MICE), Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau offers enticing incentive packages specifically for MICE operators.
“By partnering with product providers and state tourism boards, we extend these attractive incentives to MICE operators and wedding planners, highlighting Malaysia’s diverse offerings,“ Manoharan said.
He said the Tourism Ministry is focusing on high-impact and fast conversion strategies and aims to collaborate with airline operators such as Scoot and Indigo under the International and Charter Flights Matching Grant.
The ministry will also partner with MakeMyTrip, India’s largest online travel agency, and Thomas Cook, a prominent travel agency in India.
