Tourism Malaysia has unveiled a new strategy designed to target affluent travellers from key cities around the world.

“Indonesia, China, and India, these places are highly populated so we can capture a larger market base,” explained international marketing division director for south Asia, west Asia and Africa, Zulkifly Md.

“Through this strategy, we hope to get more tourist arrivals and hopefully increase the length of stay and tourist receipts,” he added.

Zulkifly Md was speaking during the Malaysia Master Training Programme.

Sites have been particularly focused on India, which again made it into the top ten markets for Malaysia last year.

“We had 690,849 tourist arrivals from India in 2010 and 693,056 arrivals in 2011,” explained Zulkifly Md, adding Malaysia had set up three overseas offices in India to help capture a larger share of the market.

“For the off-peak months of August to October, we are also working with Malaysia Airlines in a joint promotion called ‘Showcase Malaysia’ whereby tourists in India who buy economy or business tickets will get a free night’s stay in Malaysia,” he concluded.