Malaysia still a sought after destination for Indonesian travellers

The demand to visit Malaysia among Indonesian travellers continues to grow despite competition from other regional destinations, driven by what outbound agents say is a compelling combination of easy access, affordability and the variety of product offerings in the country.

This was apparent in the enthusiastic reception to the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents’ (MATTA) roadshows in Jakarta and Surabaya earlier this week, which brought together 35 sellers, comprising agents, hotels and theme parks, to promote Malaysia’s latest tourism products and offerings to Indonesian agents.

The MATTA event, jointly organised with the Association of the Airline Ticketing Companies in Indonesia (ASTINDO), received strong interest from hundreds of travel specialists from Jakarta and Bandung for the Jakarta event, and Surabaya and its surrounding areas for the Surabaya event.

Deputy secretary general of ASTINDO, Pauline Suharno, who is also managing director of Elok Tour, thinks the warm agent reception is in part due to the participation of new Malaysian sellers such as Desaru Coast and Asia-Pacific Masters Games in Penang.

“Besides tour operators selling tour packages, there are also hotels and attractions wholesale ticketing agents. This allows us to have a variety of products to sell as not all Indonesians — especially those who are familiar with Malaysia — like to buy tour packages.

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