Malaysia eyes 1 mn Indian visitors in 2017

Malaysia is looking at 1 million visitors from India this year on account of a slew of initiatives, including visa fees waive-off -- except for a processing charge of USD 20.
"We intend to achieve the target of 1 million Indian arrivals to Malaysia this year," Malaysia Tourism and Culture Minister Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz told reporters here today.
India is a very important market for Malaysia, he added.
The government of Malaysia has agreed to waive visa fees for Indian visitors and one has to now pay only USD 20 as a processing fees, Mohamed Nazri said.

India is the sixth top tourist source market for Malaysia and last year, from January to October, it received a total of 540,530 Indian tourists, he said, adding a total of 722,141 visitors from India came to Malaysia in 2015.
"The close cultural ties between the two countries and cultural affinity between our people can reach even greater heights through tourism," Mohamed Nazri said.

This year the focus is on sustainable tourism in line with the vision of UNWTO that has designated 2017 as the 'International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development', he said.
Tourism Malaysia is laying special emphasis on promoting four UNESCO Heritage sites, Kinabalu National Park in Sabah, Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak, Melaka and George Town cities and the archaeological heritage of the Lenggong Valley, he added.

The other focus segments are destination weddings and honeymoons, Mohamed Nazri said.