As part of its strategic international marketing plan, Tourism Malaysia plans on boosting visitor numbers to Malaysia by targeting wealthy travellers from key cities.

Tourism Malaysia international marketing director for South Asia, West Africa and Africa Zulkifly Md Said, said they would be targeting countries with large populations, Asiaone reported.

“Indonesia, China and India are highly populated, so we can capture a larger market base,” Mr Zulkifly said.

“Through this strategy, we hope to get more tourist arrivals and hopefully increase the length of stay and tourists receipts.”

Mr Zulkifly said that India was a vital market for Malaysia as it ranked sixth in Malaysia’s top ten markets in both 2010 and 2011.

“We had 690, 849 tourists arrivals from India in 2010 and 693,056 arrivals in 2011,” Mr Zulkifly added.

For the first five months of this year, Malaysia welcomed 299,478 visitors from India compared to 277,791 over he same period last year, up 7.8 percent.

Mr Zulkifly said Tourism Malaysia had opened three overseas offices in India, which shows the company’s dedication in capturing the important market.

Mr Zulkifly added another initiative is to invite travel agents to Malaysia and promote the country as a must see attraction among Indians.

“For the off-peak months of August to October, we are also working with MAS in a joint promotion called “showcase Malaysia” whereby tourists in India who buy economy or business tickets will get a free night’s stay in Malaysia.”