TBM Staff - Hyderabad Travel Agent Federation of India (TAFI) is all set to organise the TAFI Convention 2022 at Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia from September 20 -23. In a recent conversation with the media, the Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak (MTCP) YB Dato Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that Indian tourist arrivals to Malaysia pre-pandemic in 2019 showed a positive trend with a 15% growth rate, while India ranked 5th in terms of visitor arrivals to Sarawak, marking a significant potential for Sarawak to tap into the Indian market.
TAFI has organised their convention in Malaysia twice, in 1999 at Kuala Lumpur and in 2007 at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. This will be the third TAFI convention that will be held in Malaysia. The agenda of the 2022 TAFI convention is to help the Indian travel trade discover the untapped province of Sarawak in Malaysia.
“There has been a positive increase of 304% in visitor arrivals from India during the period of January to July 2022 compared to the same time period in 2021. TAFI Convention 2022 is a golden opportunity for us to ramp up Sarawak’s visibility in India and also to showcase our offerings to our Indian travel agent partners. We anticipate a 30% increase from the pre-pandemic arrivals to Malaysia this year. In 2019, the Indian market contributed to 735,309 arrivals (22%) to the country,” Hamzah added.
While inviting the Indian travel fraternity to join the convention, Ajay Prakash, President of TAFI said, “It is high time for the Indian Travel & Tourism industry to realise the potential of the industry and make an effort for its growth. Sarawak is a relatively unexplored destination for the Indian traveller. Also the destination promotes conservation and sustainable development. We anticipate that after the convention, our members will be inspired to promote tourism to this beautiful province since it can be a great venue for destination weddings, family travel and corporate events.”
Focusing on building a more resilient and responsible tourism industry post-pandemic, TAFI is incorporating the “Build Back Better” theme to promote sustainable and responsible tourism practices, conservation and advanced greening efforts.
