Tourism Malaysia officials are in India this month on an intensive destination promotion campaign to position the destination as the preferred choice among Indian travel agents and travellers.
Initiatives kicked off with Tourism Malaysia’s participation in the Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) 2024 in Mumbai from February 8 to 10. Ammar Abd Ghapar, director general of Tourism Malaysia, led 43 organisations representing tour agents, hotel/resort operators, tourism product owners, state tourism boards, airline operators to the show.
The tourism board’s last OTM participation was in 2020.
Through its presence at OTM 2024, Tourism Malaysia showed off niche products such as shopping, golfing, luxury tourism, theme parks and honeymoon packages, as well as the destination’s appeal for weddings and film-induced tourism.
The Malaysia Food and Cultural Festival was also hosted from February 5 to 11 in the same city, while an extensive roadshow spanning four key cities in India – Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, and Ahmedabad – is ongoing from now till February 19.
These promotional efforts will culminate in South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange in Delhi, taking place from February 22 to 24.
Ammar said: “India holds considerable importance as a priority market for Malaysia, boasting robust economic ties and deep cultural connections. It stands as Malaysia’s fifth-largest source of tourists, contributing significantly to the tourism landscape. The period from January to September 2023 witnessed Malaysia welcoming 14.4 million tourists, with 472,479 arrivals originating from India.”
Malaysia is offering visa-free entry for Indian tourists until December 31, 2024.
Malaysia’s ambition to welcome more Indian visitors is supported by various airlines, such as Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia, and IndiGo, which provide 180 flights and 33,374 seats weekly between India and Malaysia.
