Authorities in Malaysia are planning to grant visa-free entry to citizens from China in order to boost the country’s tourism sector.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, has instructed the Minister of Home Affairs, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, to draft a report on visa exemptions for tourists coming from China, VisaGuide.World reports.
If approved, the new changes mean that nationals from China would be eligible to stay in this country for a specific period of time without visas, according to local media reports.
In addition, the Prime Minister also unfolded plans to extend visa-free entry to nationals from India.
Visa-free entry for nationals from China would significantly boost the tourism sector in Malaysia, in particular during the Golden Week holiday, which is a seven- or eight-day festival held each year in China. During this period, that this year started on September 29 and will last until October 6, a larger number of Chinese nationals chose to travel to other countries.
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association Deputy President Mint Leong told Xinhua that while arrivals remain below pre-pandemic levels, there has been an increase in the number of tourists from China.
“Chinese tourists are returning to Malaysia slowly and steadily because, after the summer holiday in this Golden Week, we can see Chinese tourists coming to Malaysia, but the number is not as big as before. But they come and stay for at least five days and four nights. That’s an improvement over shorter stays,” she pointed out.
Currently, nationals from China are eligible to obtain a 15-day visa on arrival, while Indian tourists reaching this country from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, or Brunei are also eligible to hold their visas upon their arrival.
Recently, the Secretary General of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Datuk Chong Sin Woon, said that Malaysia must give attention to being a competitive state in the global tourism sector.
He said that the decision to abolish visas for tourists from China and Kazakhstan would lead to a surge in the number of visitors from other countries.
Malaysia’s tourism industry has also been highly affected by COVID-related restrictions imposed to halt the spread of the virus, which caused profound damage to many industries, especially the travel and tourism sector.
However, at present, there has been noted a significant improvement. Besides, domestic tourist’ numbers have also increased.
Based on the statistics from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), in the second quarter of this year, the number of domestic tourists increased by a total of 20 percent, reaching a total of 54.5 million, compared to last year’s same period’s figures.
Compared to the first quarter of this year, domestic tourism numbers surged by 12.2 percent, based on DOSM figures.