Malaysia is seeking to strengthen its tourism presence in Russia, particularly in the Ural region, which accounts for about 15% of the country’s outbound travellers and has a sizeable high-income population.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said the region presented significant potential for Malaysia to attract more Russian visitors through stronger destination promotion, closer cooperation between travel agencies and improved air connectivity.
He said the focus was not merely on advertising Malaysia as a holiday destination but also on enabling Russian travel professionals to experience the country’s tourism offerings first-hand so they could develop packages tailored to their customers.
“I want to see Malaysia’s tourism offerings become more visible across Russia, along with more holiday packages designed around what Russian travellers are looking for,” he said in a recent Facebook post.
Tiong said the matters, including ways to increase travel between Malaysia and Russia, step up destination marketing, improve flight connections and strengthen cooperation between travel agencies in both countries, had been discussed with Ural Tourism Association president Mikhail Maltsev.
Tiong said Russia remained an important source market for Malaysia, with more than 31.5 million Russians travelling overseas in 2025, an increase of 8% from the previous year.
Of the total, about 20.14 million trips were for leisure, while Malaysia welcomed 139,733 Russian visitors during the same year.
For the first eight months of 2026, Malaysia recorded 98,466 Russian visitors, up 4.3% compared with the corresponding period last year.
“These numbers show there is still plenty of room for Malaysia to grow in this market,” he said.
Tiong said bringing more Russian travel agents to Malaysia would be an important part of the promotional strategy, allowing them to experience the tourism products and attractions offered by different states before curating and selling packages to their customers.
He said Maltsev also highlighted the Ural Tourism Association’s extensive network, which brings together travel agencies, airlines, media organisations and higher education institutions.
Its members include Aeroflot and Red Wings Airlines, as well as several major Russian media organisations, providing a platform to strengthen destination promotion and industry cooperation.
Tiong said Maltsev had identified three key areas to attract more Russian visitors to Malaysia – promoting destinations beyond the usual choices, strengthening cooperation between travel agencies in both countries, and improving flight connectivity.
He said the approach would help Malaysia broaden its reach in the Russian market while encouraging Russian travellers to explore more destinations and tourism products across the country. – Bernama
