Chinese tourists snubbing Malaysia after MH370, minister admits

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — Tourist arrivals from China have dropped since a Malaysia Airlines plane carrying most of their countrymen disappeared on March 8, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz admitted.

But the tourism and culture minister is confident that the airline crisis will not impact arrivals from other countries and is redoubling efforts to promote Malaysia to markets elsewhere, several Malay dailies reported today.

“I would be lying if I said that it is not affected.

“We are sure that the Chinese passengers’ families are angry at Malaysia including some of their artists who expressed the same sentiment,” he was quoted as saying by Sinar Harian.

Nazri reportedly said the declining number of tourists from China had prompted his ministry to stop their Visit Malaysia 2014 roadshows in Beijing.

While the Asian giant is Malaysia’s third biggest market for tourism, Nazri also highlighted that the largest number of arrivals last year came from Singapore, followed by India.

“We have to remember that our market is not from China alone. We have tourists from Middle East, Europe, and India.

“In fact, the largest number of tourists visiting Malaysia last year was from Singapore,” Nazri was quoted saying by Malay broadsheet Utusan Malaysia.

International news agency Reuters reported on March 25 that Chinese nationals make up 12 per cent of Malaysia’s tourism market, and that the MH370 incident had left a negative impression on many Chinese tourists who would not even consider visiting Malaysia this year.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement on March 24 that the plane “ended” at Indian Ocean has triggered demonstrations in China and here with some accusing Malaysia of  “killing” their loved ones.

Some, like Chinese star Zhang Ziyi have vented their frustrations against Malaysia on the Internet.

 “You are wrong for failing to respect the universal.. quest for truth,” the Hollywood celebrity reportedly posted on China’s microblogging site Sina Weibo.

Others on China’s version of Twitter have also called for a boycott of Malaysian Chinese artists such as Fish Leong, Gary Chaw, and Lee Sinje among others.