KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Malaysia is gearing up to promote "rustic” homestay programmes in rural areas featuring its traditional cultures, to a diverse group from schools and universities to professionals and families from major cities in India.

Chennai-based daily The Hindu reported Malaysia Homestay Association president Datuk Sahariman Hamdan saying that a Tourism Malaysia delegation had engaged school and college authorities, corporations, professional groups and trade bodies in major Indian cities Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi and Amritsar to showcase the country’s rural homestay options.

"We entered India to sell our homestays for the first time this year. We are seeing huge interest from schools and universities, women’s groups, corporates and individual families from India," he reportedly said.

He said the diverse options are spread under 212 clusters across 474 villages where 3,120 homestay entrepreneurs are spearheading the effort.

Sahariman said in the report that homestays currently account for 5 per cent of Malaysia’s tourism business, while the foray into India is likely to assist in doubling the figure to 10 per cent by 2025.

"Although a new market, India is going to bring in a significant number of homestay holidayers to us, leading towards our Visit Homestay Year 2025,” he was quoted saying, adding that the next destination to promote Malaysia’s homestays is China.

As part of its promotion in India, Sahariman said that he has also held talks in schools and universities where homestays can be a part of the educational student exchange programmes.

He explained that foreign exchange students, who stay at various homestays in Malaysia, would be able to join and experience various economic activities.

"The activities are paddy farming, rubber tapping, fishing, batik painting, designing handicrafts, cooking and also entertainment activities including river cruising and other cultural events,” he was quoted saying.

Malaysia is currently able to attract 50,000 foreign students on various education exchange programmes to its homestay destinations. Most of these students are from Japan, while others are from Korea, Singapore, Europe, United States, Australia and New Zealand. However, India and China are going to be Malaysia’s key focus countries to grow the homestay sector.

Meanwhile, The Hindu quoted Tourism Malaysia director of South India and Sri Lanka, Razaidi Abd Rahim, expressing his confidence in Malaysia’s prospects of selling homestays to India based on the robust air connectivity between the two countries.

He said there will soon be additional Malaysian Airlines flights from India to Malaysia.

"We are adding more flights with Malaysian Airlines flying from Thiruvananthapuram to Kuala Lumpur at a frequency of twice a week for a start, with the possibility of making it a daily service depending on demand,” he said.

Razaidi said that before the Covid-19 restrictions, Malaysia received 735,000 tourists from India in 2019. He said it would take another one or two years for Malaysia to attain the same figure in 2019 due to the current high prices of airfares.