SINGAPORE: Even as Malaysia anticipates an influx of Chinese travellers following the implementation of a visa-free programme between both sides, it must make efforts to maintain the expected momentum of inbound tourists, an analyst told CNA.
Among the initiatives Malaysia could explore are to implement hassle-free immigration lanes to ensure the ease of travel, as well as conduct studies to understand Chinese tourist purchases and behaviour.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Sunday (Nov 26) that visitors from China – as well as India – would be granted visa-free travel for visits of up to 30 days. This will take effect from Dec 1.
“Next year, Malaysia will be celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties with China,” Mr Anwar was quoted by local media as saying during the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) annual congress over the weekend.
Dr Puvaneswaran Kunasekaran, a senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s faculty of human ecology, told CNA that the occasion is “a big advantage for Malaysia to (carry out a) massive promotion” to attract tourists from China.
China is one of the biggest markets for Malaysia’s tourism businesses, he said. He warned, however, that other dominant players in the region could pose a threat to Malaysia’s goal of drawing in Chinese tourists.
Malaysia’s neighbouring country of Thailand, for example, has waived visas for Chinese nationals from Sep 25 until February next year, to middling results.
Meanwhile, a similar visa-free policy was also announced by China for Malaysia and five other European countries – namely France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain – that will begin on Dec 1. The visa-free entry into China for these countries is valid for visits of up to 15 days and is part of a one-year trial.
Malaysian tourists whom CNA spoke to said that the removed hurdle of a visa application has piqued their interest to travel to China, although they said that the inability to access everyday apps like Google may pose an issue to their travels.
MAINTAIN MOMENTUM OF CHINESE TOURISTS, URGE ANALYST
The move by Malaysia to grant 30 days of visa-free entry will increase the number of Chinese visitors, said Dr Puvaneswaran, who urged local tour and travel authorities to maintain the expected momentum of Chinese tourists.
“This move is actually a ‘promotion trailer’ to introduce a bigger ‘Visit Malaysia Year 2026’ to the Chinese market,” he told CNA, adding that the influx of Chinese tourists has the potential to reach its peak in 2026.
“Visit Malaysia Year” is a campaign held by the Malaysian government every several years to promote the country as a tourist destination. The most recent in this series was Visit Malaysia Year 2020, themed “Visit Truly Asia Malaysia”.
Dr Puvaneswaran noted that Chinese tourists make up the biggest market for Malaysian tourism businesses, apart from travellers from Singapore and Indonesia in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Commenting on the travel pattern of Chinese visitors, Dr Puvaneswaran said that many tourists from China also visit neighbouring countries like Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
“Thus, their travel to Malaysia is not always a lengthy stay,” he told CNA.
To address this, he stressed that Malaysia should diversify its tourism products in order to set it apart from its competitors, especially Thailand.
“There are many cultural and community-based tourism products which are unpolished diamonds in Malaysia. These could be properly established for the Chinese market,” he said.
Beyond that, a mega Chinese New Year Festival next year in Malaysia – marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries – could be organised, suggested Dr Puvaneswaran.
He added that to increase tourism numbers, both the Chinese and Malaysian governments could implement hassle-free immigration lanes, as well as an app to track tourist data in order to further understand their purchases and behaviour.