I refer to the report “Beware of dubious tourists from China” (FMT, Feb 28).
A chief executive officer of a travel management group of companies, who is a former president of a travel association, was alarmed at the government’s decision to open a visa processing centre in Xiamen to facilitate tourists from Fujian province to visit Malaysia.
He was concerned over our country’s security and urged the government to ensure that “uninvited guests” would be weeded out, otherwise they would create more social problems or criminal cases.
His comments implied that our country is incapable of hosting more tourists from China. Last year, we received 2.1 million tourists from China. On the other hand, 8.76 million tourists from China visited Thailand.
As such, we are targeting four million this year, a 90% jump, which will not happen without taking extra measures.
In the past, we were unduly concerned with the problems that an influx of China visitors might bring but statistics had proven otherwise.
Hence, in recent years, we have introduced free visas to attract more China tourists and e-visa to facilitate application.
It is unbecoming of those in the travel trade to delve into matters that the authorities have put behind when they should instead be voicing support for proactive measures.
He was also reported to have said “Often, tourists who come in make their own arrangements and use their own operators. By right, they should be made to work with local operators.”
Today, most tourists including those from China, are free independent travellers (FITs) and do not travel in groups, using public transport instead of tour buses.
FITs may not benefit local tour operators but they bring in most of the tourism receipts for our country. Our hoteliers, restaurateurs, entertainment centres, including theme parks, and retailers would gladly testify to this.
The number of visitors to Malaysia last year was only 26.5 million, four million short of the targeted 30.5 million.
Under the Malaysian Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP), we are targeting 36 million visitors and RM136 billion tourism receipts by 2020.
Industry players should be aligned to the government’s plan to achieve this target and the next MTTP should focus on tourism receipts.
Again, China visitors will feature prominently as they have been the world’s biggest spenders, emptying luxury stores in many shopping hotspots such as Paris, Milan, London, New York and Tokyo.
Some travel just for shopping, which can offer savings of more than 50% compared with prices in China.
Although not all are super rich, many China tourists rely on their smartphones for information, make bookings and payments, and for navigation without the need for printed brochures and foldable maps.
The chances of tapping into their market would improve considerably if state-of-the-art mobile apps are developed for the destinations they are heading. They will supersede all advertisements and promotions placed by the government and tour operators.
Such mobile apps should be in several languages as they are accessible globally round the clock.
CY Ming is an FMT reader.
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