SEPANG, Aug 12 — A dedicated tourist help desk will be established at both the main and low-cost terminals of the KL International Airport (KLIA) to welcome inbound visitors from China
Tourism Malaysia chairman Datuk Siew Ka Wei said the desk aims to help ease communication between Chinese tourists and Immigration officials, and also to improve their on-arrival and departure experience.
“The help desk, which will be located at the Immigration check points at KLIA and KLIA2, will be manned by Mandarin speaking Malaysian volunteers to help Chinese visitors who are not well versed in English or Bahasa Malaysia,” he said at a China Help Desk meeting at KLIA yesterday.
“They are to help with any communication challenges faced by Immigration officials and provide additional on-arrival information to the tourists. This will ease passenger traffic flow and the Immigration process.’’
Siew said the help desk will be operational next month and talks are underway with several non-governmental organisations to rope in volunteers.
“We are asking the airport authorities to put up more signages to help guide Chinese tourists to the desk. This is to create the sense that visitors are welcome and they will want to return to Malaysia.”
Siew said they intend to implement the help desk at other major entry points of the country.
Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB) managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said the help desk would start in time for the Chinese holiday season in October and is also in line with the government’s objective of reaching eight million Chinese visitors by 2020.
“So far, we are at 3.4 million Chinese tourists coming into the country. The help desk is our means to attract more (Chinese) visitors while easing passenger congestion at airports,” he said.
