LESS than two months to the first anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines’ Beijing-bound flight MH370, Malaysia’s prime minister has announced a waiver of visa fees for Chinese nationals to boost the country’s competitiveness in attracting Chinese tourists.
According to the New Straits Times today, home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the implementation date for the move would be made known today at the cabinet meeting.
He was quoted as having said that visas still needed to be issued for national security purposes: “Although we want to draw tourists to our shores, we cannot compromise on security.”
In an earlier press conference this month with the minister of tourism and culture, Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Ahmad Zahid said that Malaysia had lost 540,000 tourists from China last year and tourism arrivals in 2014 may not reach the targeted 28 million as a result.
Malaysian inbound operators handling the Chinese market had reported many Chinese group tour cancellations in the immediate aftermath of MH370.
