Over 2.7mil Indonesian tourists expected to visit Malaysia

MEDAN: Over 2.7 million tourists from Indonesia are expected to visit Malaysia this year compared to 2.5 million last year, Tourism Malaysia director in Medan, Suhaimi Abu Hasan Ashaari said. Suhaimi Abu Hasan who is also the Malaysian tourism counsellor for Sumatra said 1.2 million Indonesians had visited Malaysia up to July this year.

"Although the global economy has yet to recover, we are confident that we can achieve the target during the remaining months owing to the promotional programmes we are carrying out here," he told Bernama. Among the programmes are the Malaysia Year-end Holiday from Nov 7-13 at the Medan Fair Plaza involving eight major Indonesian tour agents and four airline operators AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Srivijaya Air and Wings Air. The programme showcases tour packages as well as attractions in Malaysia.

"Most Indonesian tourists prefer to visit major cities like Kuala Lumpur and Penang due to the availability of direct flights and shopping facilities," he said. Tourism Malaysia in Indonesia, especially in the Sumatra sector, was also actively promoting other destinations in Malaysia.

The promotion focuses on Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Sabah this year while Perak, Langkawi, Sarawak, Malacca and Johor will be the target next year. He was confident that cultural similarities and Sumatra's good economic growth would continue to spur the interest of Indonesian tourists to come to Malaysia.

- Bernama.