BERLIN: Travel Corporation of India (TCI), one of India’s top
outbound tour operators, describes Malaysia as a “uniquely attractive
destination.”
Rakshit Desai, TCI’s Mumbai-based director, who
was in Berlin to participate in the just-concluded International
Tourism Bourse (ITB), the world’s largest tourism fair, said his
company offers tour packages to European and Southeast Asian
destinations and “Malaysia is a very popular destination for Indian
tourists.”
“Indeed, it is a central component of our Southeast
Asia outbound programme and we have organised thousands of trips to
Malaysia so far,” he told Bernama in Berlin.
TCI sells leisure
products for a corporate clientele, many of whom prefer to visit
Malaysia because “it is unique and affordable with an abundance of
natural, historical and cultural attractions.”
“Indeed, the
Malaysian market has a good outlook and is generally perceived as very
strong,” said Desai whose company offers MICE (meetings, incentives,
conventions, exhibitions) travel, the independent leisure tourists and
escorted tourists.
Rakshit said Malaysia’s strength, compared
to other destinations in Southeast Asia, lies in easy accessibility,
affordability and an enchanting landscape.
Indian tourists love
the long and pristine sandy beaches of Langkawi whose duty-free
shopping facilities have an instant appeal for shopping-obsessed
tourists from the subcontinent, he said.
“Langkawi is ideal for
newly married couples who enjoy the calm and beauty of Langkawi
beaches. The island is very popular among Indian tourists because of
the quality of its hotels... these are outstanding properties. “Genting
has been another traditionally popular resort among Indian tourists,”
the TCI director observed.
Rakshit said that his company works
closely with the Mumbai office of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board
which promotes tourism to Malaysia, however, Indian tourists would like
to see Malaysia’s visa system liberalised for Indian passport holders.
Unlike Singapore and a number of other Asian countries, Malaysia does
not provide Indian passport holders the “Visa on Arrival” (VOA)
facility, he said, pointing out that the absence of a VOA facility can
become a “psychological deterrent” to would-be tourists.
He
said Indian tourists are amongst the highest-spending in the world and
the “cash-rich middle class Indians do not just spend money on tourism
per se; they have a fascination for overseas shopping which, in the
final analysis, can benefit an entire range of segments of the economy.”
When told that some Indian workers took advantage of Malaysia’s former
liberal visa system and overstayed in Malaysia as illegals, Desai
countered that, that was a small number compared to the large numbers
of genuine tourists.
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