Malaysia Airlines mulls tie up with Gujarat Tourism Corp

Malaysia Airlines will tie up with the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL) to promote inbound and outbound tourism.

"With the commencement of our direct flights on December 16, we are planning to tie up with TCGL to promote inbound and outbound tourism in the state. We will promote Gujarat in Malaysia through roadshows and our tie up with Tourism Malaysia will definitely help attract Malaysian tourists in Gujarat," Sonia Dutt, marketing manager, South Asia, Malaysia Airlines, told Business Standard.

"Malaysian's are very keen on garments and fabrics and Gujarat is known for its prominence in textiles. With the removal of the quotas, we expect Malaysian business houses to visit Gujarat in significant number," she added.

According to Tourism Malaysia, over 71,000 Indians visited Malaysia between January and May this year, a growth of almost 12 per cent, compared with the corresponding period in the previous year.

The number of Indian tourists visiting Malaysia had gone up mainly because of the sustained promotions in India. Indians were among the top 15 nationalities that visited Malaysia last year.

"The initiative of Malaysia Airlines to tie up with TCGL is a welcome move and will promote both inbound and outbound tourism in Gujarat. The state has many interesting places which can become a good tourist destination. Some of them are the ancient remains of Indus valley civilization at Dhola Vira in Kutch district, the desert lands of Kutch, the only abode of ancient lion Gir forests, sanctuaries of rare species of birds and animals, beaches along the sea coast, Lord Krishna's temple at Dwaraka and Jain Temple at Palitana," said Anil Patel, state minister of tourism and civil aviation. "I am sure these places will attract international tourists."

Tourism Malaysia had spent around $1 million in the Indian market to promote Malaysia as a tourist destination. With the launch of new service, the expenditure on promos are expected to be further increased.

The promotions will be directed at increasing the number of leisure travellers. Malaysia was able to maintain its arrivals at over 12.7 million, despite the setback after September 11, 2001.

"The state plays a significant role in the Indian outbound air traffic. Gujaratis are a known travelling community and we want to service them right from their doorstep. Malaysia Airlines would like to tap the growing markets especially where the Gujarati community has interest. We expect the new route to attract the primary market to Malaysia," said Zainal Abidin Sulaiman, area manager, Malaysia Airlines.

"The leisure and business segment in Gujarat contributes to almost 70 per cent of the air traffic. We expect the air traffic to increase by 12 per cent to 16 per cent with the new service," said Dutt.

According to the Australian Tourist Commission (ATC), increasing number of Indian visitors are beginning to venture out to Australia by travelling beyond Malaysia and Singapore. Interestingly, ATC is now focusing on Indian tourists from top-end of the market.

There is an increased awareness among the seasoned Indian travellers to consider Australia as a special leisure destination or popular holiday option. On this front, Australia is facing competition from South Africa, European countries and Japan.