<div>Malaysia is hoping to attract 800,000 Indian tourists this year after achieving a growth of some 20 per cent in arrivals from India last year, a senior tourism official said on Monday.</div><div> </div><div>India is the sixth largest source of tourists for Malaysia, with 643,335 Indians travelling to the Southeast nation between January and October last year, according to the latest available data.</div><div> </div><div>The numbers represent a 20.7 per cent growth over the corresponding period in 2013, Tourism Malaysia deputy director general Azizan Noordin told reporters in New Delhi.</div><div> </div><div>For the whole of 2013, Malaysia received 650,989 Indian tourists.</div><div> </div><div>"India is an important source market for us. We get a lot of repeat visitors, especially families and young people. For 2015 our target is 800,000 visitors," Azizan said.</div><div> </div><div>Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Genting Highlands, Langkawi and Melaka are popular destinations for Indians.</div><div> </div><div>The leisure segment accounts for about 60 per cent of total Indian arrivals, followed by social and corporate travel.</div><div> </div><div>Azizan said Malaysian tourism promotion efforts in India seek to attract more adventure and eco tourists to the biodiversity-rich Sabah and Sarawak on Borneo.</div><div> </div><div>"These are directed at young people interested in sport and adventure," he said.</div><div> </div><div>The government has declared 2015 as the "Malaysia Year of Festivals", showcasing the country's cultural diversity to draw in more tourists.</div><div> </div><div>Through this campaign Malaysia aims to increase its foreign arrivals to 29.4 million in 2015. In 2014, the number of tourists received during the January-October period was 22.8 million, while the full-year target was 28 million.</div><div> </div><div>Singaporeans form the largest group of foreigners visiting Malaysia, followed by Indonesians, Thais, Chinese, and people from Brunei.</div><div> </div><div>Malaysian travel companies are holding networking sessions with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad from February 9 to 17.</div><div> </div><div>"This is a chance for us to showcase Malaysia's tourism offerings and highlight the scope for collaboration between Indian and Malaysian travel agents," Azizan said.</div><div> </div><div>Air India, Malindo Air, AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines offer 159 flights with a capacity of 29,000 seats between India and Malaysia per week.</div>
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