JANUARY 24 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced three major strategies to cope with the impacts brought by plummeting international crude oil price and depreciating ringgit, including strengthening the tourism industry. It tries to attract more tourists to Malaysia by waiving visa fees for tourists from various countries, particularly China; offering competitive airfares; and increasing the frequency and duration of mega sales nationwide, to increase treasury revenue.
Waiving visa fees for tourists from China is indeed a step forward, but such measures could not help much in promoting the development of the country’s tourism. Instead of waiving visa fees, it would be better to exempt visa. Even though tourists from China are no longer required to pay for the visa, it is still cumbersome to apply. Only by exempting the visa could attract a large number of Chinese tourists to Malaysia.
The government has been actively developing tourism in recent years. The number of tourists increased from 25 million in 2012 to 25.7 million in 2013, allowing the tourism industry to earn up to RM65.44 billion while making tourism the sixth largest industry in terms of the country’s economic income. And China is currently the country’s top source of tourists. For instance, Chinese tourists alone had brought RM5.5 million of revenues.
Unfortunately, the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight and abduction cases in Sabah last year have led to a 40 per cent fall of the number of Chinese tourists to Malaysia. Malaysia has thus suffered over RM230 million of loss, setting a severe blow to the Visit Malaysia Year programme in China. If the government wishes to revive, it must attract more Chinese tourists in the 2015 Malaysia Year of Festivals. In addition to strengthening promotion, exempting visa for Chinese tourists is the most practical and effective measures
Visa-free travel is a global trend. Not only Europe and the US have exempted visa for Chinese tourists, neighbouring countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia have also exempted visa or waived visa fees for Chinese tourists, and the move has helped boosted these countries’ tourism. From the tourism perspective, how should our country fight with neighbouring countries for Chinese tourists?
Chinese tourists bring huge business opportunities, driving not only the retail, entertainment, hotel, restaurant and services industries, but also helping in the development of aviation and transportation. It is an undeniable fact. Nearly a hundred million of Chinese travel abroad each year and with only 5 per cent coming to Malaysia, there would be about a million boosting the country’s tourism.
However, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi holds a different view, saying that the government will not consider exempting visa for Chinese tourists due to national security issues. We think that it is a narrow idea. In fact, visa exemption does not mean no limitation or restriction. The government can limit the visa-free period to 14 days or a month, instead of treating Chinese tourists with prejudice.
Malaysia and China has established 40 years of diplomatic relations and if the government can take the initiative to exempt visa for Chinese tourists, it would not only help in boosting the tourism industry, but also in strengthening the bilateral relations in terms of economy, trade, culture and education, while also allowing Malaysians to enjoy a share of China’s vast market. — Sin Chew Daily
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
