Malaysia to ease arrival process for Chinese tourists

Foreign tourists, including from China, arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Jan 10, 2023. PM Anwar had previously said that the govt will tighten its control for all international travellers (pic: Bernama)

Matta estimates 1.2m Chinese tourists will visit Malaysia this year, generating RM3.6b in tourism receipts

by ANIS HAZIM / pic BERNAMA

ALMOST three years since the pandemic started, China — the world’s most populous nation and second-largest economy — is now open to the world again.

On Jan 8, China dropped its international travel restrictions, prompting a surge in Chinese citizens booking overseas trips.

However, many countries are imposing strict restrictions on visitors from China as the country is currently seeing an unprecedented surge in Covid-19 cases.

Almost 90% of people in China’s third most populous province have now been infected with Covid-19, according to Henan province health commission director Kan Quancheng. Moreover, cases are expected to keep soaring upon the abandonment of China’s zero-Covid policy, while millions are set to travel in and out from the country to celebrate the Chinese New Year this month.

According to CodeBlue, there are about 1,286 passengers on direct flights from China arriving in Malaysia every day on average since China opened its borders.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) estimated that about 1.2 million Chinese tourists will visit Malaysia this year. Their arrivals are expected to generate approximately RM3.6 billion in tourism receipts.

In 2019, about 3.1 million Chinese tourists visited Malaysia, making China our third-largest source market for international arrivals, based on Tourism Malaysia data.

However, due to fears of another Covid-19 wave, several parties have called for the government not to allow entry for travellers from China.

Matta slammed these calls, describing them as “irrational and irresponsible”.

“Since the re-opening of our borders in early 2022, our country has been making steady, positive progress towards recovery and any knee-jerk reaction to re-introduce restrictions without proper planning risks undoing all that we have achieved,” Matta president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said in a statement.

Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (Mita) president Uzaidi Udanis said that Chinese tourists are among the top tourist spenders in Malaysia.

“Tourism Malaysia previously reported that in the first quarter of 2019 (1Q19), 1.33 million Chinese tourists spent a total of RM3.7 billion, so they are very important as a huge source of tourism for the country.

“On average, they spent RM11,012 per person, a lot more compared to other foreign visitors. They are among the top spenders when they visit foreign countries,” Uzaidi said at a recent media briefing relating to the recent Chinese tourist arrivals.

Malaysia to Screen All International Travellers

Despite many countries imposing strict restrictions on Chinese tourists, Malaysia, on the other hand, plans to ensure their smooth arrival to the country.

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) has proposed for special lanes at Malaysia’s airports to speed up the arrival process for them, while the ministry continues to measure the health status of arrivals from China.

Minister Tiong King Sing said, in a statement on his Facebook, that it is neither appropriate nor effective to tighten the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the entry of travellers from other countries, including China.

On the other hand, Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the government will tighten its control for all international travellers.

At a press conference on Jan 4, Anwar said that the government will continue to protect the people’s health, and that public health should take priority over the economy and tourism.

Previously, Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said that those found to be feverish, symptomatic or have self-declared Covid-19 symptoms will be referred to a quarantine centre or to the health authorities for further checks.

This also applies to those who have come in close contact with individuals who have travelled to China within 14 days, or exhibiting influenza-like illnesses (ILI) or severe acute respiratory infection (Sari). The ministry will also run polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on sewage samples from aircraft arriving from China, which would be sent for genome sequencing if they were found to be positive, which have raised some questions from the public.

In response to this, Health DG Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah defended and justified the move, which aligned with Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA).

Global Rules Imposed on Chinese Travellers

The surge of cases in China has led to some countries imposing curbs on Chinese travellers, requiring them to show negative Covid-19 test results.

These countries include the US, European Union (EU), Cyprus, Greece, Sweden, Britain, France, Australia, India, Canada, Japan, Spain, South Korea, Qatar, Netherlands, Portugal and Israel.

Some countries, including Italy (antigen swabs and virus sequencing) and Taiwan (PCR tests), require Covid-19 tests to be taken upon arrival from China.

Both Malaysia and Belgium will test wastewater from planes arriving from China for new Covid-19 variants. Additionally for Malaysia, it will also screen all inbound travellers for fever.

For Thailand, all international travellers must show proof of full Covid-19 vaccination or letter certifying recovery from the virus before flying into the country, while the Philippines will intensify monitoring and implementation of border controls for international travellers, especially China.

Meanwhile, Latvia has recommended that all travellers from China wear medical masks during flights, and follow strict hygiene and health measures.

Germany, on the other hand, is still working on implementing new entry rules for travellers from China.

As of now, Morocco is the only country that imposes a ban on travellers arriving from China, whatever their nationality.