Malaysia Tourism is aggressively looking at tapping the Tier II and III cities in India. Recently, Malaysia has also introduced E-Visa facility for the Indian travellers which will further fuel traffic from India.
Speaking about the plans for India market, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Director, Tourism Malaysia, Mumbai said, “Malaysia is expected to attract one million Indian tourists this year and my main responsibilities include developing the Western India market targeting especially the Tier II and Tier III towns to reach these numbers”. Hafiz is also planning to promote niche products like self-drive, luxury travel, eco-tourism, sports tourism, business travel etc. to reach out to special interest segments of the Indian traveller.
The Malaysian Government recently introduced the Electronic Travel Authorization Visa (e-visa) for a short visit to Malaysia. At this point in time, the e-visa facility is available to Indians residing in India only and is valid for a single journey stay of maximum 30 days in Malaysia for tourism purposes.
Speaking about the new E-Visa facility, Hafiz added, “We are always trying to make travel to Malaysia as convenient as it can get and the introduction of e-visa is a major step in that direction. We are confident that with this ease in visa process more and more Indians will now consider Malaysia as a destination of choice for their next holiday.”
India is a significant contributor to the tourism economy of Malaysia. Last year as many as 722,141 Indian tourists travelled to Malaysia making it the sixth largest contributor to tourist arrivals. Though it was a 6.2 per cent drop as compared to 2014, on the brighter side tourism receipts from Indian tourists has increased from RM2.3 billion in 2014 to RM2.6 billion in 2015 which showed a positive growth.
Applauding the new development on E-Visa introduction, Rajeev D Kale, President & Country Head, Leisure Travel, MICE, Thomas Cook India Limited said, “Thomas Cook India applauds the Malaysian government’s initiative of introducing e-visas for Indian tourists. The single entry 30 day e-visa, with between 24-48 working hour processing, is a neat fit for Destination Malaysia, a short haul favourite, with easy access of an under five hour flight, serving to inspire a diversity of customer segments- from value to luxury; family, FIT, ad hoc, young professionals, women travellers, Gen Y to Gen S; also strong potential for viable last-minute Indian travellers given the opportunity of extended weekend breaks and public holidays.”
