Malaysia has, in the recent past, enjoyed more than a healthy footfall from the Indian outbound market. According to Manoharan Periasamy, Director, Tourism Malaysia India, the Indian market is a significant contributor in visitor arrivals and has proven to be a strong and viable venture for Malaysia. “We look forward to working even more closely with our partners here to increase arrivals from India to Malaysia this year and in coming years. For 2013, we have targeted 780,000 tourist arrivals from India to Malaysia while our overall tourism targets are to achieve 36 million tourist arrivals and attract RM168 billion (about USD55 billion) in tourist receipts by the year 2020,” he revealed.
In 2014, Malaysia will celebrate its fourth Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) with the theme “Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia”. The VMY 2014 promotional campaign has started this year with a series of year-long special events and activities leading to VMY 2014. It will contribute to the Government’s target to receive 36 million tourist arrivals and RM 168 billion in receipts by 2020, as outlined in the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP) 2020.
Periasamy believes that Tourism Malaysia’s targets for next year are achievable by enhancing the growth momentum of the country’s tourism industry through the VMY 2014 promotional campaign. “The campaign, which runs for one year, not only promotes Malaysia on an international level but also highlights various pro-active initiatives by the Ministry of Tourism to ensure Malaysians understand the economic benefits of a successful VMY 2014,” he added.
Malaysia enjoys mixed segment traffic from India, with VFR contributing 8.2 per cent, FITs adding 73.9 per cent and business forming 18 per cent of the total visitor arrival statistic in a year. However, Periasamy stated that then Rupee depreciation will have an impact on Indian travel to Malaysia as he opines that the Indian holidaymakers prefer to travel domestic due to rupee depreciation. Air connectivity works at an advantage for the country as India is well connected to Malaysia through direct flights.
“Air links have improved significantly over the years; at present, there are more than 96 direct flights per week from India to Malaysia. Air Asia runs daily flights from Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Kolkata to Malaysia. In fact, Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia have helped boost Indian footfall to Malaysia,” Periasamy said.
The travel trade fraternity holds a place of importance for Tourism Malaysia and the destination has an ongoing effort to educate the industry on the country and all it has to offer. Tourism Malaysia has been organising its Sales Mission to India every year since a decade. In addition, their training programmes highlight lesser-known destinations and products, as well as refresh the knowledge of the frontline staff on Malaysia.
Periasamy further informed that, to promote Indian Weddings in the destination, Tourism Malaysia has drafted many affordable travel packages. “Tourism Malaysia has also taken a multi-channel approach with steadily increasing its presence on the social networking platform,” concluded Periasamy.
