Shreya Shimpi
The Malaysian delegation at the OTM was led by YBhg. Datuk Manoharan Periasamy, Chairman of Tourism Malaysia. He said, “Malaysia successfully achieved its 2025 tourism target with 42.2 million international visitor arrivals, representing an 11.2 per cent increase compared to 2024. India remains one of our key source markets, contributing significantly to this achievement and continuing to play an important role as we intensify our efforts towards Visit Malaysia 2026,” said Datuk Manoharan.
In a press conference held at the OTM for the travel trade media, Nuwal Fadhilah Ku Azmi, Senior Director, International Promotion Division (Asia/Africa), said, ‘We are coming to India in a big way. India is currently one of our most important markets, apart from the Asian markets such as Singapore, Thailand, and China. India is among the fastest-growing markets for Malaysia. We witnessed a growth of 14.6% from 2024 to 2025 from the Indian market. Last year, we welcomed around 1.5 million Indian visitors to Malaysia, and for this year, we have set a target of 2.1 million Indian tourists.
A notable shift in the travel trends is being observed with a rise in the number of young Indian travellers to Malaysia. This growth is attributed to the relaxation of visa, as Malaysia is visa-free for Indians and also to the growing connectivity. Presently, we have more than 200 weekly flights from 20 different cities in India to Malaysia. There is an increasing interest among Indian tourists in exploring regions apart from Kuala Lumpur. This has also been one of our key areas of focus to showcase islands, beaches and nature beyond the regular destinations. We share cultural similarities, cuisine preferences and a similar background. Going forward, we want to spotlight the diverse experiential attractions in Malaysia. There is lot in store for the Indian tourists, especially for the Visit Malaysia year 2026.”
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