Malaysia eyes Indonesia's rapidly growing market for high-end travel

Malaysia wants to tap the Indonesian luxury travel market to the peninsula as arrivals to the country grow rapidly.

Speaking to Indonesian outbound tour operators and the city’s socialites in Jakarta on Tuesday, Malaysia Tourism Minister, Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen introduced Malaysia’s new tourism campaign Luxury Malaysia, which targets the high-end market. She said: “Travellers today still look at destinations in Europe like Paris for luxury travel. Our new tourism direction is to make Malaysia a luxury destination.”

January-June arrivals from Indonesia to Malaysia grew 20 per cent over the same period last year to 1,108,361. Last year, Indonesia recorded 2,134,381 total arrivals. “Apart from the fact that there is increased seat capacity from Garuda Indonesia, AirAsia and Sriwijaya Air, there is a rising number of outbound travel from Indonesia, which shows the economy is growing,” she said.

A couple of familiarisation trips organised by Tourism Malaysia Jakarta office had shown that with awareness campaigns and promotions, Malaysia has the potential to attract Indonesian high-end travellers.

“Many people are not aware yet that Malaysia is a duty free country. Apart from the five categories of products (car, glass and pyrex, cigarettes, alcohol and chocolates) all other products are tax exempted in Malaysia. Shoppers from all over the world can seek bargain buys from luxurious brands in Malaysia,” the minister said. Other areas that could potentially draw high-end travellers were the country’s culinary and cycling tours.

Dr Ng Yen Yen also said Malaysia had just launched a helicopter tour, cruise, Johor Premium Outlets, Legoland, KidZania as part of a lineup of luxury products. “We are also offering the Fly and Cycling Tour for the high-end market. To travel agents who have a group of 30 people, we (the government) will organise a police escort, mechanics, and an ambulance,” she said. The Fly and Cycling Tour has tourists fly into Malaysia for cycling tours.

Quizzed on their target segment, Dr Ng Yen Yen said: “We are aiming for the top-notch ‘Hermes’ travellers and the next layer of ‘Mango’-brand travellers.”
-TTG Asia.