Exempt visa for all Chinese tourists, not just groups

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) is calling for visa exemptions for all Chinese tourists, and not those who come under the group travel category only, said its president Hamzah Rahmat.
“We welcome the move to waive visas for China tour groups but imposing visas on ‘Free Independent Travellers’ will make them feel shunned," he said.
“They spend much more on accommodation, shopping, food and beverage. Last year for example, 2.2 million China tourists spent a staggering RM86 billion in the United States, or a whopping RM40,000 per visitor,” he said in a statement.
Hamzah said that Matta had previously warned that half-hearted measures are not effective to attract more tourists from China and had called for visa exemptions from the onset.
He said free visas were granted at the beginning of this year and the number of China visitors plunged by 27.1% in the first quarter.
“If China visitors had increased by 27.1% instead of a decrease, total visitor arrival figures would have dropped by only 4.6% and not 8.6% as recorded in the first quarter of 2015,” he said.