Matta lauds China group tourists visa fee waiver

KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Association Of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) welcomes the proposal by Federal Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz to waive visa fee for PRC Chinese national tourists visiting Malaysia in tour groups."This is indeed a sign of a great leader who listens to the voice of the industry.

"Matta President Haji Hamzah Rahmat has been calling on visa exemption recently due to declining number of PRC Chinese national visitors arrivals to Malaysia," said Datuk Tan Kok Liang, Matta (Inbound) Vice President Malaysia.

While the stakeholders of the tourism industry have make concerted efforts to lure back Chinese national tourists to Malaysia, Tan urged the Home Ministry in charge of visa approvals to seriously look into this matter.

Tan said Tourism Malaysia, Sabah Tourism Board, Sarawak Tourism Board and various state tourism boards together with travel agents have come up with recovery plans, it is time for the Home Ministry to act in support.

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Tan said that in an effort to lure back Chinese national tourists, tourism authorities have come up with familiarization trips, promotional sales trips, social media advertisement and promotional tour packages rates amongst other plans.

Airlines and hotels have also joined in the efforts with attractive air fares and hotel accommodation.

"What is lacking is the final boost or ingredient which is the visa exemption or visa fees waiver to complement the efforts make by the tourism industry in order to stay competitive in the region," said Tan.

"With an estimated average spen

ding of RM4,000 per PRC Chinese national tourist in Malaysia, we stand to lose over billions of ringgit in lost opportunity costs for the want of Chinese tourists, seriously impacting the growth of the economic sector dependant on tourism and leisure," added Tan.

The arrival number of PRC Chinese national tourists to Sabah decrease by 37 per cent from May to August this year compared to 143,356 visitors during the same period last year.

For the whole of Malaysia, the Chinese national tourists arrival figures dropped significantly in May and June, which registered -35 per cent, year-on-year growth compared to the same period last year.

Countries that offered visa fee waiver schemes for Chinese national tourists such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines have recorded positive growth n arrival numbers.

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According to Tan, tourists must feel welcome before visiting and would shy away from countries that are not tourists friendly.

"Incidents such as MH370 and Sabah kidnappings are out of our control but relaxing visa requirements for PRC Chinese national tourists from now until December 2015 is doable as other countries have proven successful through visa exemption schemes," Tan stressed.

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