Masidi Manjun, who was the former tourism, culture and environment minister, said the drop in arrivals from China only took place during the Golden Week (Oct 1 to Oct 7) break this year, which marked the National Day holiday season in the republic when many would travel around the country.
“I am still collecting the facts… overall arrivals still registered a growth. I believe the full-year results will still be positive.
“I believe Sabah is still in a position of hitting the half-a-million Chinese arrivals target for 2018,” he told FMT in a WhatsApp text message today.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) cautioned industry players against being too dependent on tourist arrivals from China, urging them to look instead at other viable markets.
This follows reports that hotels in the country were hit by a 30% drop in Chinese tourists during the Golden Week.
Matta president Tan Kok Liang said it was high time tourism players look at more domestic, UK, Europe, Japan and Asean markets, instead of over-relying on China.
Sabah Hotel Association immediate past president Christopher Chan said of the 2.5 million tourist arrivals, as of August this year, Chinese tourists continued to be the biggest group with 417,574 visitors to Sabah in the first eight months against 296,441 for the same period in 2017.
He said there was, however, a slight drop of 10% to 20% in arrivals from China, making the observation from his office on Gaya Street, located in the heart of Kota Kinabalu and traditionally a hotbed for tourism activities.
However, Masidi said Gaya Street was not the sole indicator of the number of Chinese tourists.
“There are more and more FIT (free independent travellers) Chinese visitors and many are now going further away from the capital,” he said.
He did not see why the US-China trade war, said to be one of the factors for the lull in Malaysia’s tourism involving the Chinese, should be a disadvantage.
“With the trade war between China and the US, it makes political sense for the Chinese government to make friends with its Asian neighbours.
“Just like politics, relationship among nations is dynamic, not static. Relationships can easily change, be dictated and encouraged by mutual benefits derived from better economic relationships,” said the Karanan assemblyman.
Effects of ‘zero-fare tours’
Meanwhile, Sabah Tourist Association (STA) chairman Tony Chew named several possible reasons, besides the on-going US sanctions, for the drop in Chinese tourist arrivals in the state.
Chew, who is well-versed with the China market, said one of them could be due to the new government portraying “unfriendly policies” against China investors.
“Another impact is from zero-fare tours which focus on shopping instead of leisure.
“This cluster of customers is only looking at prices — other destinations offer fares that are much lower than Sabah,” he said.
The zero-tour fares practice involves tourists paying tour operators low prices for their holiday getaways but they usually end up paying for overpriced food, lodging and souvenirs or tips for agents during their tours, according to industry experts.
Chew said the Chinese government is already clamping down on such activities because of complaints.
He said, however, arrivals in Sabah still showed an increase in Chinese arrivals as a whole despite tour operators and hotels facing a dip in business from China.
”If you look at the statistics from the Sabah Tourism Board, the increase in Chinese arrivals is 40.9% for the January-August period.
“The FIT Chinese tourist segment has also grown and many are staying in Airbnb and using Grab to go around, bypassing hotels and tour operators,” he said.
Chew said local tour operators, Chinese-speaking guides, shopping outlets and restaurants are the ones suffering the most as their focus is on large tour groups.
“But we have to be optimistic and keep abreast with the developments in the Chinese market.”