Sudipta Dev – Mumbai
The Indian traveller has been focused on certain traditional destinations in Malaysia like the capital Kuala Lumpur, Genting Highlands, and Langkawi. Tourism Malaysia is looking at introducing new facets of the country through new destinations and products. From destinations like Borneo and Sipadan to self drive holidays and homestays, there are a lot of unexplored attractions awaiting the Indian traveller in Malaysia, believes Mohd Hafiz Hashim, director, Tourism Malaysia, Mumbai. The newly appointed director acknowledged that there was a decrease in Indian visitor arrivals, he shared, “The Indian arrivals for 2015 was at 722141, a 6.2 per cent drop from 2014.” The drop in number can be attributed to factors ranging from increase in hotel rates in Malaysia to wariness of tourists to travel by Malaysian Airlines. “Our target this year has been set at one million and I believe that through our offices in India, along with the travel trade, we can achieve the one million target. If we achieve that, we might get more budget for next year for promotional activities,” he mentioned.
Despite the fact that there was a drop in visitor arrivals, there was an increase in terms of visitor spends. “The India market is at number six, and it can be among the top three markets,” stated Hashim. The e-visa is also expected to boost visitor numbers with considerable reduction in processing time to 24-48 hours. Only Indian passport holders residing in India can apply for the
e-visa.
Hashim is looking at introducing new products into the India market – from homestays to education tourism packages. The latter being not just for school students, but also for students of higher education who can go to Malaysia for a short period of time to pursue an area of interest. He also believes that products like self drive packages could be of much interest to Indian travellers. “We have very good highways, from North to South and East to West. Also, the fact that both India and Malaysia have driving in the right side makes Indian tourists comfortable in exploring the many attractions of Malaysia on self drive holidays,” he said. Luxury travel, business travel and MICE market are the other focus areas.