Malaysian Minister of Tourism Dr Ng Yen Yen who was in the City on Thursday, said that the transformation of the Indian population in the last 20 years had increased the purchasing power and made it a favoured destination to woo tourists.
Launching the ‘One Malaysia, Endless Experiences’ campaign, she said that the packages being offered under the scheme would cater to a large section of international travellers especially in Bangalore.
The country is also promoting the ‘Malaysia My Second Home’ programme, where people are encouraged to retire in Malaysia. “The objective is not to work in the country, but to come and relax out here,” Director General of Malaysia Tourism Mohammad Taiyab Beg said.
However the country is still trying to work out its visa procedures. At present, there is no entry visa system for travel to Malaysia and they have to be obtained by applying at the Embassy and Consulates. Malaysia’s High Commissioner to India, Tan Seng Sung said that they were looking at simplifying rules to make it easier for people to obtain visas, but as of now, the existing system has proved to be sufficient to take the load of tourists. A special committee has been set up to look into the possibility of introducing applications for visas online and visas that can be obtained through authorised travel agents.
The H1N1 scare has not dampened tourism prospects in this country, as the Tourism Minister specified that though they had no system of quarantining the patients, all emergency services were made accessible to patients. The popularity of the packages offered, can be gauged from the fact that about 1,000 seats for the new packages have already been sold in the City in just three days.
Malaysia is expecting around 6,00,000 tourists from India this year. The minister said that the tourists from India has increased by 1.9 per cent between January to July of this year. India is the second largest tourist generating market outside the ASEAN region for Malaysia.
