KUALA LUMPUR – Stiff competition from neighbouring countries and changes in tourism trends are among the factors contributing to Malaysia’s inability to hit pre-pandemic levels in number of tourists from China, according to the Malaysian Inbound Travel Association (Mita).
Tourism Malaysia said 1.44 million tourists from China visited Malaysia in the first half of the year. However, the 2024 figure falls short of the pre-pandemic numbers of 1.56 million visitors recorded in the first half of 2019, Xinhua reported.
Mita president Mint Leong said that changes in travel habits by Chinese tourists could have played a factor, as many tourists have shifted to personalised, small groups, or independent travel modes – which Malaysia has not fully adapted to.
“In addition, the intensification of global tourism market competition cannot be overlooked. Other Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, are actively competing for Chinese tourists by offering more attractive policies and activities,” she told Scoop when contacted.
Competition from Malaysia’s neighbours
Leong also said that the neighbouring countries adopted a similar visa-free policy to attract Chinese tourists, therefore having this policy does not pose a unique advantage for Malaysia but rather levels the playing field with other countries that offer similar perks for Chinese tourists.
She also pointed out that while Malaysia’s visa waiver policy takes effect for only three years – from December 1, 2023, until December 31, 2026 – Singapore and Thailand have permanently waive visas for Chinese nationals.
The real impact of Malaysia’s visa-free policy for the Chinese must also be combined with other factors, such as enhancing the country’s tourism products and strengthening marketing efforts in the Chinese market, she added.
“If these areas are simultaneously improved, the effectiveness of the visa-free policy could become more pronounced. The best part is the effort from our tourism minister (in) managing to bring in 438 weekly flights from China to Malaysia, which greatly increased accessibility for Chinese tourists.
“If this increase in connectivity is paired with more compelling promotional strategies, it could substantially boost Chinese tourist arrivals,” she added.
Asked whether the three-year-long free visa entry is working as intended in getting more Chinese tourists, Leong said that its effect is yet to be fully realised.
China’s promotion of domestic tourism
Leong also said that the slower-than-expected recovery of the Chinese economy has affected its tourists’ travel plans – and the rising costs of international travel, which include increased prices in airfare and accommodation, may prompt some tourists to delay their trips.
She also pointed out that the domestic tourism demand in the republic has been growing with increased investment and marketing for domestic attractions, which encouraged the Chinese to travel domestically.
Entertainment also plays a very huge role as TV variety shows in China play a very important role in promoting their domestic tour in effective ways.
“For example, reality TV show Where Are We Going, Dad? went to popular destinations for the past 10 years. Currently, Running Man, Jiayou Ganfanren and Back to Field are successfully promoting local tourism, especially for rural and unexplored attractions.
“Recently, Black Myth: Wukong, the action role-playing game, also made popular a few tourist destinations in Shanxi province,” she added.
Political instability in 2018-2022
Meanwhile, Malaysia Tourism Agency Association (Mata) president Datuk Mohd Khalid Harun attributed the country’s failure in getting the numbers back to pre-pandemic levels to the political instability and adoption of policies that were unfriendly to China.
Speaking to Scoop, he said that thrice changes in government from 2018 until 2022 have caused the government to lose focus not only on managing its politics but also on the tourism and other economic sectors.
This is in contrast to Malaysia’s neighbours – Singapore and Indonesia – which were politically stable in the same period, and these countries focused on improving their infrastructures to facilitate tourist arrivals and at the same time making aggressive promotions.
Therefore, tourists, including those from China, have good options to “savour” these countries, he said.
“Take China’s relationship with Indonesia for example. Their high-speed rail venture (with China) boosted up the morale of the Chinese (to visit Indonesia).
“That time, we (Malaysia) had a bit of a strained relationship with China because of the cancellations of (Chinese) projects, and China retaliated by importing more palm oil from Indonesia and less from us.
“So it took time for the relationship to go normal after the prime minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) went to China to gain the confidence of the Chinese government to ‘tighten’’ the business ventures and re-align new strategies on how China and Malaysia can improve trade,” he added.
Additionally, Khalid acknowledged that while Malaysia was the first country to lure Chinese tourists after the republic opened up its economy following the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia lacked flight connectivity at that time as local airlines were a bit slow in improving their flight frequency post-pandemic.
“Then our visa-free entry policy (was) extended to China (and) we now can see the numbers slowly coming back. This policy is good, provided that we need to improve our infrastructure in both the software and the hardware,” he added.
Better promotion, more tourism products
Both Khalid and Leong also recommended that the government strengthen its promotional efforts, with the latter suggesting the government go beyond traditional travel fairs by adopting digital marketing strategies.
Leong said that the government can promote Malaysia through targeted promotional efforts on Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, travel websites, and short video platforms.
These strategies must be adopted as content is the most important part of promoting destination and attraction, Leong contended, as local governments in China have successfully promoted outstanding attractions and cultural experiences by leveraging digital campaigns and collaborating with influencers, turning niche locations into viral sensations.
Additionally, Leong also said that Putrajaya should collaborate closely with key opinion leaders or influencers, where travel bloggers can help showcase Malaysia’s unique tourism experiences more effectively.
Putrajaya and the state government can also focus specifically on promoting research travel – where tourists come to conduct research, travel and study – and wellness tourism which targets senior citizens.
Leong said that these two forms of travel aligns with key policies promoted by the Chinese government and hold strong appeal for younger generations and family-oriented travellers.
Conversely, Khalid suggested that the state government do their part in improving the airport facilities such as those in Kuching International Airport, Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Penang International Airport and Senai International Airport.
The cruise ports also need to be well taken care of and the Immigration Department needs to improve their operational style to ensure clean and smooth entry of foreign tourists into Malaysia, he added.
“The states should have more new attractions coupled with varied cultural shows and eating outlets with a high standard of service and hygiene.”
Meanwhile, Khalid said that the government should focus on making sure that Chinese tourists’ needs are taken care of by helping beefing up the quality of Chinese-speaking tour guides, improving transportation networks to ensure that they are connected to all tourist spots nationwide. – October 1, 2024