BY INDER RAJ AHLUWALIA
KUALALUMPUR | 14 MAY 2026
Riding on the back of a large mix of natural, historical and heritage attractions and sustained global marketing by Tourism Malaysia and its affiliates, Malaysia is surging ahead in its endeavour to become a major tourist hub. In an exclusive interview, Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim, Director General, Tourism Malaysia, spelt out salient features of their efforts.
Welcoming participants in the ‘Rain Rave Water Music Festival’, held in Kuala Lumpur, Rizal stated that the festival was part of an ongoing campaign. It went beyond mere music, displaying much more of Malaysia, including heritage, food, crafts etc.
Rizal feels that Malaysia being a mix of different cultures makes it a very interesting and unique destination. In 2025 the country saw some 40 million arrivals, the bulk being from South East Asia. This was an impressive growth and has set the trend for the future.
While other South East Asian countries are, what he termed ‘friendly competitors’, Malaysia stays ahead thanks to its numerous attractions and unique charms, backed by smiling people. They constantly keep changing their product content, and opening up new destinations, to continue their success. The fact that Malaysia is a safe country is another plus factor that plays a big role in the country’s image boost.
While India has been a market for quite some time, it now occupies a prominent position on their radar screen. Thanks to its huge population and economic rise, India has become a huge tourist source market for Malaysia, and holds enormous future potential. Their ongoing promotional efforts in India now include focusing strongly on 2-tier cities such as Pune, Hyderabad, Lucknow etc owing to their huge potential. The Indian community residing in Malaysia is also a ‘factor’. It helps the country’s promotional efforts for the Indian market, and adds to its appeal for Indian visitors, making them feel more at home.
Positive results are clearly visible. Their focused and sustained promotional efforts have paid rich dividends, as they got a million Indian visitors last year. They now hope to get more, and are on track with that. The ‘India Story’ is very relevant in Malaysia today.
( THE WRITER, MR. INDER RAJ AHLUWALIA IS AN INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED , MULTIPLE AWARD – WINNING TRAVEL JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR)
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