Tourism Malaysia team connects with five Indian cities to woo Indians in its ‘Sales Mission 2024’ drive

Tourism Malaysia offers incentives and attractions to Corporates, Travel Agents and organisers of India 

‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ message explains the diversity and cultural richness of serene and progressive Malaysia

Ahmedabad, Feb 19:  Tourism Malaysia is intensifying its promotional strategies towards Indian travellers through Sales mission  across five cities of India.

Starting with Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkatta they reached Ahmedabad as its last destination. Impressed with Ahmedabad’s development Ahmad Zuwairi Yusoff, Consul General of Malaysia, Mumbai said ” I was impressed and liked the city of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar on my personal visit here. However, I take this opportunity to invite the people of Gujarat to visit Malaysia and make best use of  the visa-free entry into their country which was offered as a gesture of friendship”.

Interacting with the media of Ahmedabad, Ahmad Zuwairi said “India is a significant priority market for Malaysia, with strong economic ties and cultural connections. India is Malaysia’s fifth largest source of tourists. Malaysia recorded 17.8 million tourist arrivals between January and November 2023 with 587,703 from India. In terms of air accessibility, 181 flights with 33,851 seats are offered weekly between India and Malaysia through Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia, and IndiGo.

This mission is also to promote the recently lifted entry visa to Malaysia with visa-free entry for citizens of India for stays of up to 30 days beginning 1^st December 2023 until 31^st December 2024. The announcement was made by the Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Sri Anwar Ibrahim. Additionally, it serves as a platform to promote Visit Malaysia 2026 through publicity coverage throughout the programme”.

Noriah Jaafar, Director Tourism Malaysia Mumbai explained how Malaysia was culturally rich, beautiful and possesses the qualities and essence of being a ‘Truly Asia’ location for Indians. She said we love Indians and wish them to visit our country and explore benefits and opportunities that they might love to even as witness the beauty and culture of Malaysia in the present times.

“Tourism Malaysia is intensifying its promotional strategies towards Indian travellers through several tourism expos including the recent Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) held in Mumbai from 8^th to 10^th February 2024, and the upcoming South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) in New Delhi, scheduled from  12^th to 22^nd February 2024″ Noriah said.

Razaidi Abdul Rahim, Director Tourism Malaysia, Chennai  and Deputy Director, Kolkatta- Akmal Aziz explained the various opportunities that were waiting for Indian corporates, businessmen and tourists in general at Malaysia.

In addition to its participation at OTM, Tourism Malaysia also conducted a Food and Culture promotional event in Mumbai, which took place from 5^th to 11^th February.  Building on the success of this event, Tourism Malaysia is now orchestrating a sales mission across five main cities. The mission kicks off in Bangalore, followed by Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and concludes in New Delhi, spanning from February 12^th to 22^nd.

The mission is led by  Razaidi Abdul Rahim – Director, Tourism Malaysia, Chennai,  Noriah Jaafar – Director, Tourism Malaysia, Mumbai and  Akmal Aziz – Deputy Director, Tourism Malaysia, New Delhi, together with 45 organisations, comprised of two (2) state tourism bodies, three (3) airlines, 14 hotel and resort operators, 19 travel agents, six (6) product owners, and the Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), also an agency under Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.

The  B2B event brings together Malaysian sellers of tourism products and services to interact with Indian counterparts to strengthen networking and cultivate business opportunities with the important market. Apart from the business matching sessions, there will be seminars and product presentations focusing on leisure and niche tourism markets such as meeting & incentives groups (MICE), weddings, golfing, and family fun activities. The sales mission is expected to gather over 500 travel agents and tour operators from the respective cities.

There were several Malaysian tourism officials, and travelling agencies and professionals from Malaysia and India . BILKULONLINE spoke to Prema Muniandy of United Travels and Tours from Malaysia and T.Ediwanto T.Eddie, Deputy Director Malaysia tourism promotion board who were busy interacting with visitors and attending the enquiries of travelling to Malaysia.