TOURISM MALAYSIA RESUMES TO ENTICE THE INDIAN MARKET AT SATTE 2024

Tourism Malaysia returns to India’s largest tourism fair, the South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE), Delhi NCR for its 20th participation. The three-day event, happening from 22nd to 24th February 2024, is a continuous effort to keep Malaysia as the preferred tourist destination in the minds of Indian travellers.

At SATTE this year, Tourism Malaysia aims to focus on niche products such as shopping, golfing, luxury tourism, soft tourism, theme parks, and honeymoon packages. On top of that, emerging segments such as weddings and film-induced tourism are also being promoted to Indians as a destination of choice. With an expected total of more than 35,000 trade visitors, the event anticipates a significant increase in Indian tourists to Malaysia through the rigorous promotion and stronger cooperation between tour operators and members of the tourism fraternity.

The Malaysian delegation is headed by Mr. Muhammad Akmal Hafiz Abdul Aziz, Deputy Director of Tourism Malaysia New Delhi Office, together with 45 organisations representing tour agents, hotel and resort operators, tourism product owners, airline operators, Tourism Selangor, and Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.

Tourism Malaysia is currently conducting several promotional activities in the Indian market. These include the Malaysia Food and Cultural Festival from 5th February to 11th February and its participation in the recent Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) 2024 from 8th February to 10th February, both held in Mumbai. From 11th February to 19 th February, Tourism Malaysia has just concluded a roadshow campaign across four main cities in India, namely Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta and Ahmedabad.

“Apart from promoting lifestyle segments, Tourism Malaysia is also leveraging the niche product segment which could be a big platform for Malaysia, especially as a preferred wedding destination from the Indian market. Additionally, we are keen to promote Malaysia as a destination of choice for film-induced tourism. A lot of incentives are being provided should one come to do their filming in Malaysia,” said Mr. Muhammad Akmal Hafiz Abdul Aziz.

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.

In the meantime, Tourism Malaysia will seize the opportunity to encourage more Indian tourists to visit Malaysia by leveraging the announcement of the visa-free policy for Indian tourists to Malaysia until 31 December 2024. Additionally, it serves as a platform to promote Visit Malaysia 2026 through publicity coverage throughout the programme.