Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board

The India connection

We set up our office in India in 2001.We have three offices covering entire India and other countries in South Asia. Some would say that we entered the India market late when compared to other NTOs, but I feel that we came at the right time, especially since the travel industry opened to outbound market.

Success so far

The success of Malaysia as a holiday destination has been a case study on how to attract Indian tourists. When we started our operations, there were 45,000 tourists coming in; since last November, the numbers have increased to close to 6.35 lakh. Over the years, we have registered constant and double digit growth in the market. The booming economy in India and disposable income has spurred people to travel and Far East is always the first overseas destination for them. Malaysia became a choice of holiday destination especially among families. Travelling within India is very expensive - if someone from North India wants to holiday down South, it will cost a lot. With the same amount of money, they can go to an international destination. Malaysia is a preferred holiday destination, gives value for money and has something for everyone. That has contributed to the double digit growth.

Key campaigns and promotions

When we came to the Indian market, we launched the 'Malaysia: Truly Asia' campaign with a big bang. We started telling consumers and trade about the campaign. We were everywhere - electronic and print media- to highlight the campaign.

Most successful campaign so far

'Malaysia: Truly Asia' has been the most successful campaign we have done in this market. Obviously, the proof is that the number of arrivals has grown tremendously in this region. This is a global campaign, but the content of the campaign is suited to the market based on market research. So we highlight what will attract Indians - shopping, beach destinations, theme park, honeymoon. The initial focus of the campaign was Malaysia as a destination, later with more awareness we adopted a focused strategy and started selling specific destinations. For instance, in tier II and tier II cities it is Kuala Lumpur, but in metros like Mumbai we don't need to tell people about Kuala Lumpur. In metros the focus is on experiential holidays as they are mostly repeat travellers.

Primary target markets in India

Our target market has always been families. Indians like to travel with their immediate and extended families. As a destination, we cater to all segments in a family. For children there are theme parks, for women there is shopping, while men indulge in clubbing and sports activities. We also have beautiful beaches at Langkawi and Penang.

Strategy for 2011

For 2011, we want to make Malaysia the number one holiday destination in the market. We also want to highlight the premium products to attract the high-end segment, specially from metros. We would like to increase the number of days of stay for tourists - to go beyond the metros and spend 10-12 days in different parts of the country.

Source = expresstravelworld