THERE has been no drop in Chinese tourist arrivals to Malaysia, said Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, dismissing allegations by local travel agencies of a 15% decrease in bookings ahead of Chinese New Year.

He told The Malaysian Insight that the Immigration Department recorded a 31.3% increase in Chinese tourist arrivals for the CNY period this year compared with 2018. 

“More and more Chinese tourists are travelling as ‘free independent travellers’ (FITs). They don’t use travel agents. They use private tours, or travel on their own.

“This is an increasing trend that TripAdvisor, too, has mentioned,” he said, referring to the travel-and-restaurant website that lists reviews, accommodation bookings and other travel-related content.

“If industry players are saying there is a drop, then it could be that there are more FITs.”

Local travel agencies earlier said Chinese tourists are avoiding Malaysia due to a host of factors, such as the change of government after the 14th general election and a lack of tourism promotions, particularly during the CNY holiday.

They also complained about registering up to a 15% drop in bookings.

Industry players said bookings at travel agencies saw a decline of between 8% and 15% this year compared with the same period in 2018.

The reasons, they said, include “sensitive” comments made against China after the change of government last year, the lack of visa-free travel and promotions in China, and its own slowing economy because of the US-China trade war.

Bakhtiar, however, dismissed these claims.

He said there were three million tourist arrivals from China last year compared with 2.4 million in 2017.

“There has been a steady increase over the years. According to data from the Immigration Department, there was a 30% spike in arrivals. 

“This shows that there is no drop in Chinese tourist arrivals. (Claims to the contrary are) not true,” he said, adding that younger travellers prefer to use travel apps.

Bakhtiar added that Malaysia is looking at the digital marketing platform to target affluent tourists.

According to Immigration Department data, there was an increase of 29%, or 1.28 million, in Chinese tourist arrivals from June to October last year.

During the same period in 2017, the department recorded 990,000 arrivals. 

As for a waiver of the Chinese tourist visa, Bakhtiar said a letter was sent to the Home Ministry last month. 

“We are engaging with them to consider liberalising our visa rules in order for us to be competitive in the Asean market.” – February 5, 2019.