India Can Emulate Malaysia In Tourism Sector.

Date: 21 January 2013

India Can Emulate Malaysia In Tourism Sector.

NEW DELHI (Bernama) - India can emulate Malaysia's success story in the Tourism sector if the industry works together, says Creative Travel Joint Managing Director, Rohit Kohli. It is amazing to see how the industry works cohesively in Malaysia, the government, Tourism Malaysia and the aviation industry, he said.

"Malaysia has done a fantastic job as a destination, India can emulate that," he told Bernama. He noted that Tourism Malaysia makes it a point to travel and promote the country in every destination that Malaysia Airlines (MAS) or AirAsia flies. "In India, they are all going in 50 different directions at the same time," said Rohit on the industry's inefficiency.

The "Malaysia Truly Asia," campaign is another success story, he said. "That is another incredible step that the government took and the whole sector worked together," he said. Malaysia took the campaign to the second level and supplemented with products to give it a strong impact and continuity, he said.

Although the "Incredible India" campaign by the Indian government was equally good, it lacked follow-up action, he said. "It was a campaign that the government did a fairly successful job but they didn't go to the second level, which is to supplement it with products," he said. So, there are a lot of things that India can learn from more matured markets, especially on how to work together, said Rohit.

In India, it is a case of not only poor infrastructure but also incoherent policies that becomes a stumbling block in developing the industry, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India's President, Subhash Verma, said. Cross-border taxes within the country is one the issues that need to be addressed, he said, adding that travelling has to be made seamless and hassle- free.

"Air ticket price is another factor. It is exorbitantly priced. It is cheaper to fly to Bangkok or Dubai than to a destination within the country," said Verma.

In 2011, Malaysia received 24.7 million tourists. It aims to attract 26.8 million tourists during the Visit Malaysia Year 2013-2014. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), Malaysia has been the 9th most-visited country in the world for three consecutive years from 2009 to 2011.

By Saraswathi Muniappan

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