After Sri Lanka and Thailand, Malaysia has granted visa-free entry to Indians for stays of up to 30 days from December 1. Travel agencies say visa-free entry is a crucial factor for Indians traveling abroad.
“Indians are traveling like never before and our consumer data indicates a big appetite for multiple mini-cations, especially for destinations closer to home and easy to obtain a visa,” said Rajeev Kale, President and Chief Executive Officer. Country, Holiday, MICE, Visa – Thomas Cook (India) Limited. He added that Thailand’s recent announcement of visa-free entry for Indians had generated strong interest, leading to a 30% increase in demand compared to last year. “With visas being a crucial deciding factor for Indian travelers, the recent update on visa-free entry to Malaysia from December 1 is a smart move, clearly intended to catalyze visits to the powerful and high-growth Indian market « Kale said.
According to the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Council, the country recorded 9.1 million tourist arrivals through June, including about 280,000 from India. “Indians across all segments, including multi-generational families, couples/honeymooners, DINKs, millennials/young Indians and solo travelers, are enjoying their year-end holidays, as well as weekend breaks extended and public holidays, to plan several mini-cations, especially visa-free and easy. visa for short-haul destinations,” adds Kale.
India has emerged as the largest market for outbound travelers in Asia in 2022. According to data from the Ministry of Tourism, the top five destinations for Indians are UAE, Saudi Arabia, USA , Singapore and Thailand. According to Daniel D’Souza, President and Country Head of Holidays at SOTC Travel, Indians are taking advantage of every opportunity to travel. “We are seeing growth of more than 20% year-on-year in our bookings for October-December. Customers are showing great interest in destinations that are easy to obtain with a visa or visa on arrival, in addition to domestic and long-haul destinations,” said D’Souza.
He adds that Thailand, Sri Lanka and now Malaysia are seeing strong interest from customers across segments after the recent announcements. “Other favorite locations closer to home include Indonesia, Vietnam, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andamans, Goa, Rajasthan and Kerala remain the national favorites. For the Christmas/New Year period we are seeing great interest in Europe; as well as New Year celebrations and fireworks in Sydney Australia,” he said.
He added that with Cordelia Cruises and the introduction of Costa’s domestic sailings, cruise holidays are seeing demand not only from metros and mini-metros, but also from tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
