The Hindu Business Line : Bank guarantees for visas: Malaysia assessing travel agents' views

Mr Mirza Mohammad Taiyab (right), Deputy Director-General, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, and Mr M. Shaifuddin Kamaruddin, Area Manager West India, Malaysian Airlines, at a press conference held in Mumbai on Thursday. - Shashi Ashiwal

Mumbai , June 24

THE Malaysian Government is keeping open all communication channels with travel agents in India in an effort to compile and assess their point of view on furnishing bank guarantees with the Malaysian Government while applying for visas, said a Malaysian Government official currently in India.

In March, the Malaysian Government had launched a pilot project in Chennai under which all travel agents in the southern region were to furnish bank guarantees in order to access the High Commission's online visa facilities.

According to the Deputy Director-General, Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, Mr Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, the requirement of furnishing bank guarantees was being undertaken on a pilot basis and may not be a permanent feature.

The project was launched in Chennai, from where the maximum visa applications for Malaysia were filed, Mr Taiyab said at the launch of an initiative to promote Malaysia as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) destination.

The Malaysian team, which will hold road shows and travel marts at Chennai and New Delhi as well as part of the MICE initiative, includes officials from both the tourism and immigration departments.

According to an official with the immigration department, the idea behind imposing the a bank guarantee was to make travel agents responsible for the actions of their clients and to ensure that the agents conducted business in line with the set rules and conditions.

According to Mr Taiyab, the number of tourist arrivals from India during the first four months of the year had increased by 17 per cent to 53,000. The MICE initiative was expected to double the number of corporate and incentive travellers during the slack season from July to September, he said.