KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 ― More than 250,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit Malaysia during this Chinese New Year celebration compared to nearly 200,000 during the celebration last year.

Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) president Uzaidi Udanis said the association was confident of the arrival of more tourists from China as the Malaysian Embassy in China had issued 327,000 visas for the commencement of trips from yesterday to the Chap Goh Meh's celebration in early March.

"This is a very positive development as only 193,000 visas were issued for the same period last year,” he told reporters after a Lion Dance Performance programme at Merdeka Square, here today.

He said, apart from close ties between the Malaysian and Chinese governments, among the factors contributing to the increase in the number of tourists from China, was an important role played by more than 4,000 Mandarin-speaking tourist guides in the country.

Towards this end, he said, it was working to increase the number of temporary licences for tourist guides who were fluent in Mandarin.

In addition, MITA had also held numerous promotional activities in China every year, he said. ― Bernama