Malaysia starts visa fee waiver for Chinese tourists

CHINESE tourists no longer need to pay for visas to enter Malaysia with the proposed visa fee waiver having come into effect as of February 15.

The waiver, implemented at all overseas Malaysian embassies that issue visas to Chinese nationals, will run until the end of 2015.

Confirmation of the visa fee waiver was first announced last month, and both the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) have welcomed the latest announcement by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

MITA deputy president 2, Adam Kamal, said the government should look at making the visa fee waiver permanent as it will assist travel consultants and companies with travel planning, which is done many months in advance.

“This should not be a stopgap measure to boost Chinese arrivals,” he said. The number of tourists from China took a beating after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370, which was bound for Beijing and had mostly Chinese nationals on board. The political crises in Thailand compounded the situation, since the Chinese usually do a multi-destination Malaysia-Singapore-Thailand itinerary.

Lauding the visa fee waiver “an important step in the right direction”, MATTA vice president for inbound, Tan Kok Liang, said in a press statement: “Although it is too late to cash in on the huge exodus of Chinese tourists during the Lunar New Year holidays, nevertheless the announcement was a timely ang pow (red packet or bonus) by the Malaysian government and is bound to generate a groundswell of goodwill in China.

“However, the crux of the issue is most China nationals do not plan their travel well in advance and are easily hindered by visa requirements. Moreover, they are also spoilt for choice as regional destinations are more flexible on visas.”

Looking forward, Tan hence urged the Malaysian government to grant visas on arrival as well as visa exemption for tourists arriving into the country by chartered flights as the operators would have ensured their clients’ departure.

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