Upclose with Dato’ A Aruldass
President of Malaysian Indian Tour and Travel Association (MITTA)
With 45 years of experience in the tourism industry, Dato’ A Aruldass, 70, has come a long way as the newly elected MITTA President who returned unopposed for the second term.
From taking his tourist guide course in 1982 to later setting up his own agency, Tourland Travel in 1989, with offices now in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Thailand and Dubai, he helms the 28-year-old MITTA, desiring to bring more new blood and changes.
What are some of the measures you have adopted during your first term in 2023 that have now come to fruition?
In 2023, MITTA focused heavily on building opportunities for our members through tangible, business-enabling platforms.
We organised dedicated business-to-business (B2B) sessions for both inbound and outbound agents, allowing them to explore partnerships and expand their networks.
We also guided and encouraged member participation in international roadshows such as South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) Delhi and Outbound Travel Mart (OTM) Mumbai, scheduled for 2025.
This early planning secured prime participation slots and affordable booth options for our members, which will open doors to new markets, especially from India.
What are your plans as you embark on your second term?
MITTA will be bringing 30 members from the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Kerala Chapter for a hosted five-day four-night familiarisation tour from 24 to 28 June to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.
We recently began a building financial reserve fund for MITTA to have its own building. I also want to see more Indian community representation in tourism not just as transport providers but as full-fledged travel agency owners, wholesalers, technology adopters and online sellers. The future of travel is digital. We want to help upgrade these businesses to include online booking systems, artificial intelligence (AI) based tools and new market segments.
How is the digitalisation journey for MITTA members going?
It is an ongoing process and not always easy. The travel industry is one of the most disrupted by digital platforms, so we continuously urge our members to stay ahead of the curve.
We promote adoption of AI-driven itinerary tools, customer relationship management systems and online payment solutions.
MITTA will continue to provide training, support and grants to help agencies modernise and remain relevant.
With Malaysia as Chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, how should we tap into the vast opportunities to further develop our tourism and hospitality industries?
Malaysia is enjoying a period of political stability, investors’ confidence, and growing regional influence.
As the ASEAN Chair, we should lead efforts in tourism cooperation, improving cross-border packages, visa facilitation and regional air connectivity.
We must also enhance training and service standards across hospitality to prepare for a stronger influx of tourists from neighbouring ASEAN members and beyond.
What are your insights into the Indian market?
As one of Malaysia’s most stable and fast-growing source markets, India’s growth has been resilient.
Post-pandemic, Indian outbound travel surged, with an estimated 30 million outbound tourists in 2024. Malaysia must be well-positioned to capture that.
The Indian travellers are no longer just leisure tourists, we are seeing strong growth in business events, weddings, medical tourism and student travel. Malaysia is well- suited for these segments with our affordability, cultural similarities, and growing range of offerings.
How can we improve the yield and Indian arrivals to Malaysia?
We must continue developing new and unique tourism products beyond the traditional Kuala Lumpur–Genting– Langkawi route.
There is growing interest among Indian travellers in spiritual trails, adventure eco-tourism, cultural immersions and experiential village stays, segments where Malaysia has immense potential.
The VSY 2025 campaign marks a pivotal milestone in the Selangor First Plan (RS-1) covering 2021-2025. How do you see this?
Destinations such as Sabah and Sarawak are rich in nature, heritage and soft adventure offerings but they remain underexposed to the Indian market.
We need to aggressively promote them as part of curated thematic experiences that appeal to the higher- yield travellers seeking something off the beaten path.
To complement product development, we must also invest in stronger air connectivity and collaborations with Indian online travel agents (OTAs) and influencers.
Marketing efforts should target high-spending groups such as business events, families, luxury travellers and second-time visitors who are open to exploring beyond the mainstream.
These combined efforts will help lift both arrival numbers and yield.
One of the key challenges is the lack of direct flights from India. How can this be resolved?
While direct flights from India’s metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore are largely available, the issue lies in flight frequency and connectivity to tiers 2 and 3 cities.
As India’s middle class expands and becomes more travel-savvy, many are willing to book impromptu getaways.
We must work with airlines to increase frequency from metros and explore new direct routes from fast-emerging cities like Lucknow, Coimbatore and Vizag.
Please share regarding MITTA’s partnership with Tourism Malaysia to promote the Indian market.
In collaboration with Tourism Malaysia, MITTA hosted a fully-sponsored familiarisation trip for the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Southern India Chapter in July 2024.
We welcomed 44 top agents from across South India to experience our iconic and new tourism offerings.
This trip, also supported by Wyndham Ion Majestic Genting and Sunway Resort Hotel, has seen increased group queries.
Additionally, MITTA and Tourism Malaysia jointly conducted the Malaysia Travel Mart (MTM) India Roadshow from 23 to 30 September 2024, covering the cities of Trivandrum, Calicut, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati, which have strong outbound potential but are often overlooked.
The roadshow was a breakthrough, generating over 600 B2B meetings and solid interest from regional agents to promote Malaysia.
What is MITTA’s current membership? How do you plan to grow it further?
MITTA currently has over 400 members but only 200 are active.
Our goal for 2025 is to have 280 new and active members, with special outreach to underserved segments like niche tour operators, emerging OTAs and regional players.
We also offer education sessions, digital workshops and reduced event participation fees for our members.
This will attract more young entrepreneurs and second- generation operators into the fold.
From tourist guide to president, what advice do you have for those keen to enter into the travel and tourism industry?
Tourism is not for the faint-hearted but if you are in it for the long run and you have passion, this is the most fulfilling industry in the world.
Since I started as a tourist guide, I still carry the same passion, if not more.
We are in many ways like magicians: we make people happy, help them escape the stress of life and create lasting memories. That is the magic of tourism and I love it dearly.
How do you unwind?
I unwind by spending time with my grandchildren, reading industry journals and occasionally revisiting my old tour guide notes as they remind me of where I started and why I still love this job.