Number of tourists from China visiting Malaysia doubled, visa exemption should not delay further, says Mint Leong

Sin Chew Daily, 17 Feb, 2016

(Selangor, Petaling Jaya 16 February) Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association secretary Mint Leong says from Chinese New Year’s eve to sixth day of Chinese New Year, the number of tourists from China visiting Malaysia has doubled compared to last year.

She told Sin Chew Daily that since experiencing low tide after the MH370 tragedy two years ago; this Chinese New Year is the commencement of recovery in attracting Chinese tourists to visit Malaysia again. More than two to three millions of Chinese tourists visited Malaysia during the recent Chinese New Year. The number of tourists doubled compared to last year.

Malaysia is one of the top 10 travel destinations for China

According to figures of Chinese tourists leaving China during Chinese New Year, Malaysia is still one of the top 10 destinations for Chinese. Top on the list is Japan, followed by Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia.

She says Chinese living in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing prefer to visit Japan, Thailand, Korea and Taiwan. Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia this year are mainly from second or third liner cities such as Sichuan, Chongqing, Wuhan, Dongguan, Henan, Hunan, Qingdao and other places.

“Thailand, Korea and Taiwan are top choices for Chinese living in big cities. This is because these countries do not require visa. Travel schedule is easy and free in terms of arrangement.”

She said there are also tourists from Guangzhou in China who opt to visit Pulau Langkawi. Some of the tourists from Nanning fly to Sabah.

“The traditional route for tourists from China is to enter Malaysia through Johor Baru, visit Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Genting and Penang.”

She says Chinese New Year is the period where the highest number of Chinese would travel outside of China. The actual figures of Chinese travellers would only be released on 10th day of Chinese New Year.

Number of Chinese tourists tops the world for three consecutive years

Data shows that more than 120 million of Chinese visited overseas in 2015. The number of Chinese tourists topped the world for three consecutive years.

Leong says Malaysia may be able to share 0.1% of Chinese tourists during this Chinese New Year but would not be possible to hit 1% of total number of Chinese tourists. Hence, in order to attract more Chinese tourists effectively visit Malaysia, Leong urges the government to implement visa exemption by March 1 as announced earlier.

She says visa exemption has been in the talk for too long. Too much time has been wasted. Inbound tour operators are tired. Many are keen to carry out promotional activities but nervous to initiate in a large scale.