Malaysia targets 2.1 million Indian tourist arrivals in 2026

India remains one of Malaysia’s key source markets with tourist inflows recording 1.56 million in 2025 compared to 1.36 million in 2024, registering 14.6% growth, said Datuk Manoharan Periasamy, Chairman, Tourism Malaysia, and Nuwul Fadhilahbinti Ku Azmi, Senior Director, International Promotions (Asia/Africa) Division, Tourism Malaysia.

A team of officials from Tourism Malaysia and representatives of Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) and 49 sellers from Malaysia and travel and trade partners from Andhra Pradesh were in the city on Monday (February 09, 2026) as part of Tourism Malaysia Sales Mission 2026.

Addressing a media conference on the occasion, Mr. Periaswamy and Ms. Nuwul said that Malaysia was targetting 2.1 million arrivals from India, this year, as part of the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY 2026).

They said that Scoot, a subsidiary of Singapore International Airlines, was offering convenient connections from Visakhapatnam to Kuala Lumpur via Singapore, with four flights a week from Visakhapatnam. There are 238 weekly direct flights offering 47,399 seats from 14 Indian cities. These include 151 weekly direct flights and 29,541 seats from South India, they added.

Ms. Nuwul said that India was the first country, where Tourism Malaysia was doing sales promotion. The first meet was in Visakhapatnam and it would be followed by a meet in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

She said that Malaysia has become a much sought after wedding destination for Indians. “Indians are comfortable with Malaysian culture, which has quite a few similarities with Indian culture. Malaysia offers varied cuisine that would be a gastronomic’s delight,” she added.

Hishamuddin Mustafa, Director, Tourism Malaysia Chennai (South India and Sri Lanka) and Ganneesh Ramaa, vice-president inbound and domestic of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), were also present.