GEORGE TOWN, April 4 — Tourist arrivals from China to the state are expected to drop temporarily due to the twin factors of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 and the abduction of two men from a dive resort in Sabah, said Penang tourism development and culture state executive councillor Danny Law Heng Kiang.
Law said China is Penang’s third largest market in the tourism sector after Indonesia and Singapore.
“We expect about five per cent drop in tourist arrivals from China for the next three to four months but we expect the arrivals to increase again by the end of the year,” he said in his opening speech at the official launch of an inaugural Penang International Photo Awards 2014 here this morning.
MH370 went missing on March 8 with a total 239 passengers and crew, out of which, 153 are from China.
Two days ago, a Chinese tourist and a Filipino resort employee were abducted from the Singamata Reef Resort on the eastern part of Sabah.
“The slight drop in Chinese tourists arrivals will not affect the whole tourism industry in Penang as we also have other markets with Indonesia as our main market, Singapore is second, Japan is fourth and United States is fifth,” he said.
Law added that Chinese tourists arrivals have been increasing in the last three years so naturally, a slight decline will be felt.
Malaysia’s handling of the MH370 incident has damaged the country’ reputation.
The search for the missing plane is continuing in the Indian Ocean.
