INDUSTRY players applaud the Malaysian government’s move to waive the requirement of visa for group tourists from China, with effect from October 1. This was made known yesterday by Tourism Malaysia’s chairman, Wee Choo Keng, through a blog posting.
According to Wee, the group must consist of at least 20 people to be granted a temporary social pass limited to 15 days for each entry into Malaysia. Tour operators must also be registered with the Tourism and Culture Ministry.
The social pass will be granted for those travelling on a direct flight from China, provided they have a return flight ticket and come in through any of these approved entry points: Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Klia2 and airports in Penang, Senai, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Langkawi.
Tan Kok Liang, vice president, inbound, at the Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA), said: “This will boost tourism in secondary destinations and rekindle charter flights from China.”
One of the conditions imposed by the government is that tour operators will be fined RM1,500 (US$356) per tourist should they fail to return or violate any conditions set by the ministry.
Tan objected to such a condition. He remarked: “Travel consultants should not be penalised as their intentions to run group tours were good but those who overstayed were beyond their control. If they are to be penalised, it will only cause fear for the tour operator.”
Mint Leong, secretary-general of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, also strongly voiced her dissatisfaction: “The government has to take responsibility as they are introducing this move to beef up arrivals from China and subsequently, tourism spend. Why should operators bear responsibility?”
Based on the latest tourism arrival figures from China, in 1Q2015, Chinese arrivals had seen a decline of 27.1 per cent or 326,799 tourists less compared with the corresponding period in 2014. This translates to a loss of RM1.1 billion in tourism receipts.
While Tan applauded the move, he said further relaxation of the temporary social pass was required. “The group size should be reduced to a minimum of 10 people as Chinese travel patterns have changed with group sizes getting much smaller,” he said.
“There are more FITs and rich millionaires from China travelling today with their families. The issue is not about paying the visa application fee of RMB80 (US$12.52) charged by the Malaysian government and a further RMB120 as service fee for visa processing, but rather the hassle of applying for a visa,” explains Tan.
