Kolkata: Holiday bookings at hotels and resorts — majority of them for impromptu vacations from city tourists — have increased manifold in the last two months since the Malaysian government introduced Visa-free entry to the archipelago from Dec 1, tourism officials from Malaysia visiting Kolkata said on Friday.As per data, 5.9 lakh tourists had visited Malaysia between Jan and Nov last year and more than 10% of them were from Bengal.“We don’t have the complete data since Dec but as per hotel and resort associations in Malaysia, there has been a sharp jump in the number of tourists in last two months. What is more exciting is tourists from Kolkata and other cities are booking hotels barely three to four days before their arrival just like they do while visiting a local destination,” said Akmal Aziz, acting director, Tourism Malaysia, North and East India.He added that while Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi continue to be the most popular destinations in Malaysia for Indian tourists, there has been a sharp rise in tourist footfall at places like Shah Alam, Sarawak and Saba islands over the last few years.“After the Maldives controversy, we are promoting Malaysia big time in India as we believe we offer more value for money than any other nation in our category,” said Aziz.“Between 2023 and 2030, we have 351 events booked in our country, 48% of them are from India,” said Mohammad Isa Bin Abdul Halim of Malaysia convention and exhibition bureau.