India major contributor to Malaysia’s tourism industry 

India is one of the major contributors to foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia, said Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister (MOTAC) Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing. 

“In 2023, the Indian market ranked as the sixth highest with a total of 671,846 tourist arrivals. For the first quarter of 2024, Malaysia received a total of 213,214 tourist arrivals from India,” he said in a parliamentary written reply. 

He was responding to V. Sivakumar (PH-Batu Gajah), who asked the MOTAC to disclose the number of Indian tourists in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. 

Sivakumar also sought insights into the government’s strategy to attract more tourists from India and tackle the persistent issue of Not To Land (NTL).

He said in addition to the visa exemption facilities provided by the Immigration, which undoubtedly continue to attract significant tourist arrivals, MOTAC, through its agency Tourism Malaysia, has implemented the following measures to address the NTL issue and attract more tourists from India:

(i) Introducing niche tourism products such as weddings, golfing, and diving to the Indian market through sales missions and promotions by Tourism Malaysia offices in Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi;
(ii) Participating in international tourism exhibitions in India such as the Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) in Mumbai and the South Asia Travel & Tourism (SATTE) in New Delhi;

(iii) Involving JIM officers stationed at overseas offices to provide visa-related explanations to visitors during sales missions and international tourism exhibitions in India; and

(iv) Enhancing helpdesk services at major entry points including Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Terminals 1 and 2), Penang, Johor, Sabah, and Sarawak.

“Furthermore, the ministry consistently engages with the Home Affairs Ministry (KDN) and JIM to minimise NTL cases among Indian tourists for the benefit of the national tourism industry,” he said.