Malaysian Govt offers Visa on arrival to woo tourists

Chennai, Sep 27 (UNI) The Malaysian government today announced ''Visa on arrival'' offer to woo tourists as the country is all set to celebrate its Golden Jubilee Independence during 2007.

Addressing a press conference here as part of the ''Visit Malaysia Year 2007,'' a roadshow campaign to attract tourists, Malaysian Tourism Minister B Tengku Mansor said the Visa on arrival facility would be offered to 22 countries around the world, including India.

Indians could utilise the facility from six different points of entry to Malaysia and the tourist visa would be valid for a period of 30 days.

''In order to keep abreast with the unsurpassed interest generated in Malaysia by Indians, it is imperative to establish relaxed visa procedures to spur intra regional travel and bolster tourism,'' he said and expressed hope that the hassle-free environment would go a long way in strengthening the relations between the two countries.

He said Malaysia looked India as an important market to promote bilateral tourism and listed India as one of the top ten countries in its endeavour to attract tourists.

During 2005, 2,35,000 Indian tourists visited Malaysia, which marked a 20 per cent growth over the previous year. This year, till June, 1,39,000 tourists have visited the country and the number was expected to reach 3,00,000 by the end of this year.

''With the new regime of visa on arrival, we are confident these arrivals would reach close to 5,00,000 during the year 2007,'' Mr Mansor said.

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