Sarawak Tourism reveals visitor numbers from India
India has been ranked as the fifth top source market for Sarawak revealed Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah at the press conference held on 26th August.
“Indian tourist arrivals to Malaysia pre-pandemic in 2019 showed a positive trend with a 15% growth rate, while India ranked 5th place in terms of visitor arrivals to Sarawak, marking a significant potential for Sarawak to tap into the Indian market. There has been a positive increase of 304% in visitor arrivals from India during the period of January to July 2022 compared to the same time period in 2021. TAFI Convention 2022 is a golden opportunity for us to ramp up Sarawak’s visibility in India and also to showcase to our Indian travel agent partners why Sarawak should be their next destination of choice when it comes to tourism and business events”, he said.
As confirmed, 500 delegates are expected at the convention that is to be held at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) between 20-23 September 2022.
Sarawak started tapping into India as a new tourism market in 2019 and intensified the effort in 2020 through STB’s participation in a series of webinars by Tourism Malaysia Chennai involving South Indian travel agents to highlight Sarawak as a tourism destination.
“The TAFI Convention 2022 in Kuching is indeed the culmination of all efforts in promoting Sarawak to India over the past two years. I am confident that more promotional initiatives are being planned and will be executed in the future to boost both Sarawak and India’s tourism industry post-pandemic,” added Abdul Karim.
“Focusing on building a more resilient tourism industry and responsible tourism post-pandemic, TAFI Convention 2022 is incorporating the “Build Back Better” theme to promote sustainable and responsible tourism practices, conservation and this is very much in line with Sarawak’s Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 to build a better tourism ecosystem that will sustainably serve the needs of its visitors, local hosts and the state as a whole in a sustainable manner,” he concluded.
TAFI Convention 2022 will feature a number of speakers and participants will be able to immerse in an authentic Sarawak experience with a tribal-inspired theme showcasing the best of Sarawak’s culture and gastronomical offerings.
Also present at the press conference on 26th August, were Tourism Malaysia’s director general Dato’ Zainuddin Abdul Wahab, Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee, TAFI president Ajay Prakash, Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Sharzede Datu Salleh Askor, Business Events Sarawak chief executive officer Amelia Roziman, and Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Sarawak Chapter chairman Oscar Choo.
