Malaysia woos premium Indian tourists

Tourism Malaysia has decided to woo premium Indian tourists to its leisure destinations. Nearly 6,93,056 Indian tourists have visited Malaysia in 2011 as compared to modest 1,40,000 arrivals in 2001.

"The growth of over 400 percent in a short time span has ensured that India is one of the top 3 source flight markets for tourists to Malaysia - and is very rapidly closing the gap with the leader China," Tourism Malaysia Acting Director General, Dato Hj Azizan Noordin told reporters here.

Indians are one of our most important visitors on account of the strong cultural connect and their propensity to seek good life," Noordin said, adding that the country plans to woo premium Indian tourists. Tourism Malaysia has launched the Campaign for 2012 which showcases newer and more exotic destinations for this fast maturing market.

"We are proud to host 26 percent repeat travellers from India for pure leisure. This is a larger slice than any other South East Asian destination - and in 2012 we would like to focus our efforts to grow this burgeoning segment," Noordin said.

Over the past two years, a distinct shift in Indian tourists has been noticed -- from the first time traveller wanting to spend just a few nights in Malaysia, to the experienced traveller looking for unique and memorable experiences.

"We see this experienced and discerning traveller segment growing rapidly and it is our endeavour to showcase all the natural splendour and manmade wonders that we have to offer," an official said.

Tourist information suggests that Indians are now staying longer in Malaysia (from 6.5 nights in 2009 to over 6.7 nights in 2011 on an average) and a larger share are visiting Malaysia as a mono destination (as opposed to visiting other countries during the same trip).

This augurs well for Malaysia as the numbers from India are only set to increase in the years to come, an official said.

Source - in.com