LANGKAWI, Feb 28 — Tourism Malaysia aims to increase the number of international flights to Malaysia, either matching or surpassing pre-pandemic levels, through the Feb 27-29 Routes Asia 2024.
Its international promotion division of Southeast Asia director Mohd Shahrir Mohd Ali said with the recent entry of chartered flights from China into Malaysia, it is crucial to continue embracing this trend by utilising matching grant programmes for airlines to enhance accessibility to Malaysia.
The grant is known as the charter flight matching grant (GSPC).
“Currently, there is significant interest, especially from China and India, and I have recently met (with representatives from) a few airlines too.
“There are numerous confirmed charter flights from China. Therefore, we aim to attract more Chinese tourists this year with the hope to reach between three and five million out of 27.3 million targeted arrivals,” he told the media at the Routes Asia 2024 event today.
Travellers have been targeted with a particular focus on business travellers because this group generally spend more than leisure travellers.
Malaysia recorded about 20.1 million arrivals last year, Mohd Shahrir said.
Routes Asia is a platform for the region’s airlines, airports, tourism authorities and aviation stakeholders to meet, share best practices and develop network strategies.
— Bernama
