Chan: More Chinese tourists giving Malaysia a ‘miss’

Chinese tourists are making for Thailand and Indonesia as Malaysia was not ‘market-friendly’ on its visa waiver programme.

KOTA KINABALU: Sri Tanjong Assemblyman Chan Foong Hin has warned in a New Year take that Sabah, like the rest of the country, was losing out on tourists from China following uncertainty and difficulties with Malaysia’s visa waiver and e-visa programmes. “The Cabinet has approved the programmes,” he noted. “However, the Tourism Ministry and the Immigration Department have yet to implement what has already been approved by the Cabinet.”

He suspects that the difficulties with implementing the visa waiver and e-visa programmes may be due to Ultra Kirana Sdn Bhd being appointed by the Federal Government to act as a one-stop centre (OSC) for visa applications from Chinese tourists. “Is one company’s interest more important than that of Sabah and other tourist places in Malaysia?”

Another complaint is that the conditions for visa waivers are very rigid i.e. Chinese tourists must travel in groups of two or more, and can only engage with a travel agency accredited by the Malaysian Government. “This is against the market trend,” said Chan. “More and more backpackers are travelling alone and make their own travelling arrangements.”

“How do we tap this market which doesn’t favour being forced to accept various conditions?”

Chan pointed out that it was the global trend to exempt Chinese tourists from having to apply for visas. “Indonesia waived visa requirements for Chinese tourists and others from January last year. Jakarta aims to bring in 19 million tourists a year by 2019.”

“By 2013, Thailand surpassed the number of tourists visiting Malaysia as a result of the visa waiver programme. The country had 26.5 million tourists in 2013 alone.”

“Malaysia meanwhile had 25.7 million tourists.”