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Wednesday, 22 January 2020 00:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Charumini de Silva
Malindo Air Sri Lanka yesterday launched the ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ campaign in Colombo, where Tourism Malaysia is targeting to attract RM 100 billion in tourism receipts and 30 million international tourists by the end of the year this marketing initiative.
Speaking at the event Milando Air Head of Communications and Promotions in South Asia Suresh Vanan said Tourism Malaysia is working on a lot of tempting initiatives with airlines and travel agents, while also aggressively promoting new destinations within Malaysia.
“They have opened up a lot of avenues, not only for the Airlines, but also for the travel agents. Tourism Promotion will give ideas as well as funding to certain extent on viable tripartite collaboration proposals,” he said.
It was pointed out that in 2018 Malaysia received 26.4 million tourists while earning RM 84.9 billion in receipts and in 2019 the country recorded 28.1 million tourist arrivals with RM 92.2 billion in receipts. 
He said Tourism Malaysia hopes to tap into niche segments like shopping, diving, cruise tourism, homestay and ecotourism through its ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ campaign.
Major activities engaged by the tourists in Malaysia includes; sightseeing in the cities (98.6%), shopping (95.7%), visiting islands and beaches (48.7%), vising museum (30.2%), visiting theme park (28.7%), visiting historical places (28.3%), visiting village (20.5%), swimming (18.5%), nightlife and entertainment (15.9%) and cultural event and festival (14.1%).
In terms of Malindo Air he said they were looking at increasing the load factor during this year, where they are looking at one million tourists from India, while also looking around 65,000 travellers from Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, Milando Air connects 57 destinations across 17 countries which include; India (10), Malaysia (16), Indonesia (6), China (9), Australia (5), Thailand (2), Vietnam (3), Bangladesh (1), Singapore (1), Taiwan (1), Hong Kong (1), Nepal (1), Pakistan (1), Sri Lanka (1), Myanmar (1) and Cambodia (1).
Vanan pointed out that Milano Air’s strong connectivity in the Asia Pacific region is also its key advantage in terms of attracting travellers to Malaysia and connecting other countries.
It was also highlighted that Milando Air operates daily flights from Colombo to Kuala Lumpur at 00.01am and from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo at 22.15 pm. “Malaysia has all the attractions that appeal to travellers from the region, from nature retreats to modern and affordable shopping, cuisine, culture and luxury experiences. While we extend our fullest commitment serving our customers, we also look forward to your support in promoting Malaysia and brand Milando among local travel community,” he told the travel agents who were present at the event.
Milando Air Sri Lanka Head of Sales Santhush Udumalagala said they were targeting a 10% growth in sales this year with the launch of the ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ campaign.
“This is our fifth year in operation and it has always been promoting Malaysia. This year we are trying to create awareness among the travel agents in Sri Lanka on the new destinations that Tourism Malaysia is looking through its ‹Visit Malaysia 2020› campaign,” he added.
Currently Milando Air Sri Lanka has about 150 IATA agents who has the rights to issue tickets with any airline, while they also have around 500 non-IATA agents who›s allowed to do a booking but cannot issue tickets.
“We work with both these segments. This year we want to promote beyond Kuala Lumpur on ecotourism and cultural attractions within the country, such as bird watching in Putrajaya, Sky Mirror in Selangor, Danum Valley in Sabah, heritage trails in Sarawak, the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Penang, and the new integrated destination attraction of Desaru Coast,” he said.
He said they were proud to have been partnered with the local travel agents in serving thousands of passengers travelling to Malaysia and beyond ranging from categories like leisure, corporate, students and MICE travellers.
Pix by Lasantha Kumara
