Tourism Malaysia returned to the South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE), one of India’s largest tourism fair for its 21st participation in New Delhi. The three-day event occurring from 19th to 21st February is a continuous effort to keep Malaysia as a preferred tourist destination in the minds of Indian travellers.
Tourism Malaysia intends to focus on niche products such as shopping, golfing, luxury tourism, soft tourism, theme parks and honeymoon packages to inspire the global campaign of Visit Malaysia 2026 at this year’s SATTE. Tourism Malaysia is also leveraging the niche product segments such as wedding with Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE).
Being recognised as the Best MICE Destination 2024 in the Indian market, Malaysia continues to maintain its reputation and a destination of choice for Indian corporations. With approximately more than 40,000 trade visitors, the event anticipates a significant increase in Indian tourists to Malaysia through the rigorous promotion and stronger cooperation between tour operators and members of the tourism fraternity.
The Malaysian delegation was headed by Ahmad Johanif Mohd Ali, Director of Tourism Malaysia New Delhi Office, together with 58 organisations representing tour agents, hotel and resort operators, tourism product owners, airline operators, Sabah Tourism Board and Tourism Melaka.
According to Ahmad Johanif, “Tourism Malaysia remains committed in attracting a growing number of Indian visitors, catering to their diverse preferences. The Indian market has been a significant source of visitors to Malaysia for over two decades. With the upcoming Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VM2026) campaign, we are focused on significantly increasing arrivals from the Indian market.”
India has been a priority market for Malaysia, given the strong economic ties with cultural connections between the two countries. Hence, India is currently Malaysia’s sixth-largest source of visitors.
In 2024, Malaysia recorded a total of 38 million visitor arrivals, with 1.4 million coming from India. In terms of air connectivity, 219 flights with 41,329 seats are offered weekly between India and Malaysia, operated by Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia, Air India, and IndiGo.
Furthermore, Tourism Malaysia will leverage on the announcement of the visa-free policy for Indian travellers to Malaysia until 31st December 2026 as this is an opportunity to promote increased travel from India to Malaysia.
Tourism Malaysia also conducted various promotional activities in the Indian market such as, the Malaysia Food and Cultural Festival from the 17th to 23rd February at Pullman Hotel New Delhi Aerocity alongside its participation in the recent Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) 2025 from 30th January to 1st February in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Tourism Malaysia has also concluded a roadshow campaign across three main cities in India, namely Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi from the 2nd to the 11th February.
