India courts Malaysians
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India is aggressively courting Malaysian tourists to visit India, a Bernama report said.
India’s efforts to attract Malaysian tourists are part of an aggressive drive by the Indian Government to counter the effects of the global economic meltdown and the impact of last November’s Mumbai carnage on the tourism traffic to India.
“In an effort to attract more traffic from Malaysia, we are trying to liberalise our visa policy and reduce visa fees for Malaysian nationals. I have already made representations to the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to reduce the visa fee, down from the current fee of MYR180 (US$49),” India Tourism Office Assistant Director, Neela Lad, was quoted saying.
India’s official tourism promotion agency does not have an office in Malaysia but is served by the Singapore office. The visa liberalisation, she was quoted saying, would make India an attractive destination for Malaysians.
According to Lad, more than 100,000 Malaysian arrivals were registered in India last year.
“Malaysia has become India’s largest source of tourists in the ASEAN region. With a view to making our Malaysian guests feel at home, many Indian hotels even offer halal food,” she was reported saying.
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