Malaysia in talks with banks to fund tourists

In an effort to attract more visitors from India, the tourism authority of Malaysia is planning to introduce finance schemes to fund the travel plans of Indian travellers.

Manoharan, director, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) said: "Malaysia has been one of the most preferred tourism destination for Indians. Last year (2007) we registered 422,452 Indian tourists in Malaysia, a growth of 51 per cent over the previous year. This year, however, we expect only around 20 per cent growth. The rising inflation and higher fuel prices have led to airlines increasing the fare and as a result of this there could be a drop in the arrival of Indian tourists in Malaysia."

To arrest this downward trend, the Malaysian tourism authority is working out a finance scheme through Indian banks to attract Indian tourists. "We are presently in talks with ICICI Bank and Canara Bank to offer an EMI scheme for Indian travellers. We will announce the scheme very shortly," Manoharan told Business Standard.

He said Tourism Malaysia is also working out exclusive travel package for the corporate sector. To begin with it is offering a discounted package for the employees of Wipro in Bangalore.

"We want to attract Indian corporate sector to our country. We will be testing our new promotion scheme with the employees of Wipro. Based on the success of this programme we will extend it to other companies as well. The exclusive package for Wipro employees will be announced by end of July", he said.

Manoharan said Indian tourists were among the top seven spenders in Malaysia last year. They spent around $1.13 billion in 2007.

Tourism Malaysia has announced a three-night and four-day package at Rs 25,999 for travellers from Bangalore. It has tied up with Singapore Airlines to offer this scheme.

The offer is open for five destinations in Malaysia such as Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Penang, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, upto September 30. The visa is made available both in India and on arrival in Malaysia.

Singapore Airlines, which presently operates 58 weekly flights to Singapore from 8 cities in India, is planning to add seven more flights by September this year.

This includes two additional flights from Bangalore and five from New Delhi, said Louis Leonard Arul, manager (Karnataka), Singapore Airlines.