Tourism Malaysia Resumes to Entice the Indian Market at SATTE 2024

Tourism Malaysia returns to India’s largest tourism fair, the South Asias Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE), Delhi NCR for its 20^th participation. The three-day event, happening from 22^nd to 24^th February 2024, and Malaysia Food Festival in Hyatt Regency, New Delhi from 22^nd February to 29^th February 2024 is a continuous effort to keep Malaysia as the preferred tourist destination in the minds of Indian travellers.

Azrul Shah Bin Mohamad, CEO, Tourism Selangor (3rd from L), inaugurates the Tourism Malaysia Booth at SATTE along Muhammad Akmal Hafiz Abdul Aziz, Acting Director, Tourism Malaysia Delhi & Mohammad Isa Abdul Halim, Director, MCEB

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. Tourism Selangor also had a MOU ceremony with 3 Indian Travel Associations after the inauguration of the Tourism Malaysia Booth C-36. 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 Muhammad Akmal Hafiz Abdul Aziz, Acting Director, Tourism Malaysia – Delhi, together with 39 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 5^th February to 11^th February and its participation in the recent Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) 2024 from 8^th February to 10^th February, both held in Mumbai. From 11^th February to 19^th February, Tourism Malaysia has just concluded a roadshow campaign across four main cities in India, namely Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata 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 Muhammad Akmal Hafiz Abdul Aziz.

Further he added, “We are extremely thankful to Hyatt Regency, New Delhi for making this possible. The Malaysian Chefs from Kuala Lumpur have come all the way to New Delhi to showcase the flavors of Malaysia that reflect the strong, spicy, aromatic nature of Malaysia cuisine and bring forward the different cultures to this market.”

India is a significant priority market for Malaysia, with strong economic ties and cultural connections. India is Malaysias 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.

About Tourism Malaysia

Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, also known as Tourism Malaysia, is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia. It focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia as a preferred tourism destination. Since its inception, it has emerged as a major player in the international tourism scene.

The next Visit Malaysia Year, set to take place in 2026, will commemorate the sustainability of the nations tourism industry, which is also in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG).

Furthermore, Tourism Malaysia actively endorses the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), working towards the realisation of the IMT-GT Visiting Year 2023-2025, with the shared aim of promoting the region as a unified tourism destination.

For more information, visit Tourism Malaysia’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.