He said MAS’ flights from India were now restricted to the cities of Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai, resulting in Malaysia not being able to fully capitalise on the high potential of the vast Indian market.
“So how do they (tourists) come here?” he lamented when responding to a question from V Sivakumar (DAP-Batu Gajah) on challenges faced in attracting Indian tourists.
Nazri said the problem was compounded by Indian airline companies not taking up Malaysia’s offer to accept slots to Kuala Lumpur.
“Indian airlines don’t take up our offers. Air India ended their flights to Malaysia. They don’t take up the slots and don’t allow us to refill the slots.”
Nazri said Malaysia faced competition in luring the lucrative Indian market from other Asean countries like Vietnam and Cambodia which offered Indians visa-free entry to their countries.
He said to overcome this, his ministry was relying on AirAsia, Malindo Air and Singapore Airlines to draw tourists from India.
The launch of the e-visa system for Indian tourists at a cost of US$20 (RM88) for a 15-day period, beginning April 1 is also being used as a way to beat the competition. “They (tourists from India) can apply for the e-visa from their home and they will be issued with the visa in 48 hours,” he said.
Nazri also said the ministry was trying to set up a historic Indian trail in Kampar to attract Indian tourists to Malaysia.
“We want to create an Indian trail in Kampar where Jatts (Punjabis) fought alongside the British army to defend the nation against the Japanese. The Indian government too wants a memorial there.”
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi mooted the idea of the memorial during his visit to Kuala Lumpur in November 2015.
Nazri who is Padang Rengas MP also said the number of Indian tourists to Malaysia had dropped in comparison to Thailand which attracted 1.2 million Indian tourists annually.
In 2012, there were 691,271 Indian tourist arrivals in Malaysia, but the number dropped to 650,989 in 2013. In 2014 it rose to 770,108 due to Visit Malaysia Year.
However in 2015, the number dropped again to 722,141 and then plummeted to 638,578 in 2016.
Nazri said an increasing number of Malaysians however were visiting India. In 2012, 198,583 Malaysian tourists visited India and the number went up by 22.2% to 242,649 the following year. It then went up by 8% or 262,026 in 2014, and further still to 272, 941, or an increase of 4.2%, in 2015.