JAN 4 — The Tourism Ministry has planned events at all 37 entry points into the country, including by land, air or sea, to kick off the Visit Malaysia Year 2014 campaign. On January 4, there will be fireworks display and other programmes at Dataran Merdeka.

A series of Visit Malaysia Year events have been kicked off. Let’s wait and see whether Malaysia will be able to attract 28 million tourists and earn RM76 billion tourism revenue this year.

Due to unfortunate incidents such as tourists having their bags snatched and injured while some were robbed and kidnapped, the primary challenge of the Tourism Ministry is how to eliminate tourists’ concern about their safety.

In fact, in terms of safety, Malaysia’s weather is sunny all year long without earthquake and typhoon, as in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as political disturbance as in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

It is relatively safer to visit Malaysia. However, any unfortunate incidents could undermine the country’s image and thus, the ministry must cooperate with law enforcement units to ensure the safety of tourists.

As of September last year, Malaysia recorded RM46 billion of tourism revenue with 23 million tourist arrivals. To double tourism revenue, the government recommended about 600 kinds of travel packages, and it was reported to have received good response.

The Tourism Ministry hopes to attract 475,000 British tourists in the Visit Malaysia Year but the main target is still Chinese tourists. The ministry hopes to attract two million Chinese tourists this year.

More than 83 million Chinese travelled abroad in 2012. They accounted for 24 per cent of tax-free consumption worldwide, with constantly growing spending. In other words, Chinese tourists have been the world’s target of tourism.

Window dressing alone is unlikely to give Malaysia a slice of the cake. Although the number of Chinese tourists to Malaysia has been increasing year by year, our Tourism Ministry still needs to review and strengthen its efforts.

One of the factors in Malaysia being less attractive to Chinese tourists compared with other Southeast Asia countries might be because our tourism attractions lack distinguishing features. The traditional tourist itinerary includes Redang Island, National Palace, Malacca, Genting Highlands and Penang.

Similar attractions can be found in other Southeast Asian countries. Moreover, many attractions lack proper management. Dirtiness and messiness would not give visitors a good impression.

In addition to tourist areas, entry points such as airports and ports give tourists first impressions of the country and sway their perception of Malaysia. There are six international airports in Malaysia. The beautiful and fully computerised KL International Airport is impressive, but the other airports need much improvement, from facilities to taxi services.

In particular, taxi scams can bring great damage to the country’s image, and must be addressed.

To attract more Chinese tourists, the government perhaps needs to consider relaxing visa procedures, or simplify visa measures. — Sin Chew Daily

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.