KUALA LUMPUR: Tourist arrival numbers from China, which took a hit following the twin air tragedies in 2014, have finally returned to levels prior to the tragic incidents, the latest travel data showed.
Going based on forward bookings received by tour and travel agents, Malaysia could finish the year with a handsome number of China tourist arrivals — possibly its best ever.
Arrivals from China, an important tourist market for Malaysia, slid in the immediate aftermath of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that was heading to Beijing, China from Kuala Lumpur. The flight, which was ferrying mostly Chinese nationals, disappeared without a sign in March 2014.
Four months later, Malaysia lost another aircraft — Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 — which crashed in Ukraine after it was gunned down on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Two years on, Malaysia is finally seeing travellers from China returning in large numbers.
In the first six months of 2016, China tourist arrivals grew by a whopping 32.1% representing an additional 241,080 tourists. This is the highest jump recorded, from any of the 45 countries tracked closely, when compared to the corresponding period of 2015.
Total tourist arrivals in the January to June period grew 3.7 % to 13.03 million from 12.57 million in the same period last year, which, apart from China, was supported by tourists from Malaysia’s immediate neighbours: Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.
According to Tourism Malaysia, the 13.03 million tourists contributed to RM37.39 billion in receipts — a 10.7% jump compared with the first six months of 2015.
President of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) Uzaidi Udanis told The Edge Financial Daily that the inbound numbers from the most populous country in the world have been healthy so far, and look set to grow further for the rest of the year.
Uzaidi attributed this rebound to Malaysia relaxing its visa rules for China tourists, and the imposition of stricter rules on mainland China tourists travelling to Taiwan. This was coupled with intensive marketing and promotional activities in China by Mita members.
“2016 will be a record growth year for tourist arrival from China,” Uzaidi forecast. On April 15, Malaysia introduced e-visas for China and also introduced visa waiver for them until end-2016.
He said 150 more temporary licences for Mandarin speaking tour guides had been approved by the ministry of tourism and culture Malaysia in anticipation of a higher influx of China tourists. The licences will be effective from Aug 5 until Oct 15. The tour agents will need to gauge and see if these numbers are sufficient.
According to Uzaidi, Mita members alone are bringing 4,800 tour groups from China each month. Each group has a maximum of 30 travellers. This means 144,000 tourists each month.
Apart from scheduled flights, he said many from other secondary cities are taking chartered flights into Malaysia. The spike in the tourist numbers is translating into higher hotel occupancy and even retail sales, particularly for souvenir items.
In June this year, Tourism Malaysia’s director general Datuk Seri Mirza Mohammad Taiyab told The Edge weekly that it would be sticking to the agency’s tourist arrival goal of 30.5 million for 2016. Malaysia also hopes to clock-in RM103 billion in receipts from these tourists.