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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. 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. 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. For the whole of 2013, Malaysia received 650,989 Indian tourists. "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. Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Genting Highlands, Langkawi and Melaka are popular destinations for Indians. The leisure segment accounts for about 60 per cent of total Indian arrivals, followed by social and corporate travel. 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. "These are directed at young people interested in sport and adventure," he said. The government has declared 2015 as the "Malaysia Year of Festivals", showcasing the country's cultural diversity to draw in more tourists. 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. Singaporeans form the largest group of foreigners visiting Malaysia, followed by Indonesians, Thais, Chinese, and people from Brunei. Malaysian travel companies are holding networking sessions with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad from February 9 to 17. "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. Air India, Malindo Air, AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines offer 159 flights with a capacity of 29,000 seats between India and Malaysia per week.
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Jammu and Kashmir has rebuilt its flood-ravaged tourism and transport infrastructure and the state is ready to receive tourists with new enthusiasm, senior officials said. The state suffered heavy floods, described as the worst in a century, in September last year with key tourist hotspots, including many areas in Srinagar, under water and hundreds of thousands of people stranded in their homes. "The affected areas have been cleaned and the damage has been repaired," said Talat Parvez, Kashmir's director of tourism. He said the famous Boulevard Road on the banks of Dal Lake is again buzzing with tourist activity. The state's tourism secretary Shailendra Kumar said visitor flows in January were "normal", similar to the same month last year. Any remaining damage will be fixed by March 31, Kumar said in New Delhi at an event organised by the Jammu and Kashmir tourism board. Hotels and other businesses in tourist places in Kashmir are operating smoothly, and guest accommodation capacity has reached the pre-flood level, the officials said. "We are trying to send a message that we are ready to look after visitors," Kumar said. Hotels had reported massive cancellations following the floods. Tourism plays a major role in the state's economy, which suffers from a high youth jobless rate. The sector accounts for about 30 per cent of workforce through direct and indirect employment. Linked to tourism is Kashmir’s thriving handicrafts trade. More than 95 per cent of travellers to Jammu and Kashmir are domestic, but the industry hopes to attract more foreign tourists by promoting more attractions such as adventure and rural tourism. "Kashmir has the image of a honeymoon destination because of Bollywood films but we have more to offer," Parvez said. He said people from Southeast Asian countries made up about 65 per cent of 115,000 overseas tourists the state received in 2014. The state tourism department is working on three religious “circuits” to attract Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim travellers. Buddhist sites of Ladakh will be promoted to visitors from East Asian countries such as Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Hindu pilgrims mostly visit the Vaishno Devi and Amarnath sites and their number was more than 10 million last year. Domestic leisure tourists numbered about 1.1 million during the year, less than the 1.4 million the government was expecting before September."We are setting a target of 1.5 million tourists for Kashmir this year. We want to promote the state as a four-season destination," Parvez said. Golf, skiing, rafting, village tourism, Sufi sites and historic places are among the attractions being promoted. The peak season for the Valley’s tourism is summer, when holidaymakers visit Kashmir to enjoy its cool climate. Skiing is a big draw in winter, which brings snowfall and sub-zero temperatures. Riding on the international reputation of Gulmarg as a ski destination, the state wants to add more skiing facilities. The Gulf region and Europe can be potentially huge sources of tourists, but the tourism department faces a tough challenge to boost foreign arrivals without direct international flights. "Gulf tourists won’t come unless we have direct flights," Parvez said. Air India Express launched a direct Srinagar-Dubai flight in 2009 but the service was later terminated. Europeans earlier visited the state for its handicrafts and leisure, but their numbers have dwindled because of travel warnings by their governments over safety and security issues. Kumar said the state tourism industry wants with the Civil Aviation Ministry to allow international air connections. "At the state level, we are ready to handle international flights," he told Business World Online.
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The Philippines is considering lifting visa requirements for Indian travellers as it targets a four-fold increase in visitors from the country in two years. India is the 10th largest source market for Philippine foreign tourist arrivals but the potential for growth is tremendous, Philippines Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr said. Some 60,000 Indians visited the Philippines last year and Jimenez expects this number to rise to 250,000 by 2016-end with visa relaxation and new tourism promotion activities. Ramon R. Jimenez Jr "India will be one of the top five source markets for us by the end of 2016. We are determined to achieve that," he told reporters in New Delhi. Jimenez said he expects the number of Indian visitors to be around 150,000 this year. The Philippine tourism sector suffered significant damage in the wake of typhoon Haiyan, which hit in November 2013. It destroyed Tacloban city, 650 kilometres southeast of Manila, and affected 15 million people in six regions across the country. Despite its impact on tourist arrivals in 2014, the country ended the year at 4.9 million visitors, a growth of about 5 percent over 2013, according to the tourism minister. Top source markets were South Korea, the US, Japan, China and Australia. The Philippine Tourism Ministry has proposed to lift entry visa requirements for Indian visitors and the government is looking at it positively. "There is a possibility that it will happen before the end of this quarter," Jimenez said. He said new tourist promotion activities in India will focus on Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad. "We will create a success model in these cities and then we will move (to other places)," Jimenez said. Travel between the two countries is hampered by a lack of direct flights. The Philippine tourism minister said discussions are taking place with Indian airlines to develop air connections. This year the government in Manila has launched the "Visit the Philippines Year" campaign, wooing potential visitors with the tagline "It's More Fun in the Philippines." Manila, Boracay, Cebu, Bohol are among the Philippine destinations being promoted in the Indian market.
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