Tourism Malaysia together with State Tourism Bodies and Malaysia Inbound Chinese Association (MICA) has embarked to explore the second-tier cities in China from 18th – 25th March 2024. The journey starts from Dalian, Shenyang, Changchun and ends with Harbin.
Leading the delegation is Mr. Lee Tai Hung, Tourism Malaysia’s Deputy Director General (Promotion II), joined by YB Dato’ Ng Suee Lim, Selangor State Exco of Local Government and Tourism; YB Nicole Tan, State Minister for Negeri Sembilan portfolio of Tourism, Arts and Culture; Dato’ Dr. Angie Ng, President of Malaysia Inbound Chinese Association (MICA); as well as 52 organisations consisting of state tourism bodies, airlines, hotels, resorts, travel agents, and tourism product owners.
Through this sales mission, Tourism Malaysia aims to strengthen its marketing efforts in China by penetrating the secondary cities through business sessions, seminars, networking, and emphasising promotions on the leisure market and niche segments, such as education tourism, Muslim-friendly tourism, and Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme.
“We hope that this sales mission provides a platform for the Malaysia tourism industry players to foster new relationships with its China counterpart and encourage more Chinese tourists to visit Malaysia, especially with the 30-day visa-free travel to Malaysia starting 1 st December 2023. We are always exploring further collaborations to bring more visitors to enjoy Malaysia’s wonders and delights,” says Lee Tai Hung.
Tourism Malaysia’s sales mission to China is among the promotional activities planned for the Chinese market in 2024. For the record, the 1 st Series of Malaysia Sales Mission to China in April 2023 has accumulated a total sale of RM42.1 million and RM3.8 million in publicity value. Meanwhile, the 2nd Series in September 2023 has recorded RM13.0 million in total sales and a publicity value of RM3.5 million.
China remains one of the top market sources for Malaysia and contributed 1,474,114 arrivals to the country last year, a positive growth of 593.4% in comparison to the same period in 2022 with 212,603 arrivals. Malaysia is currently targeting to receive 27.3 million international tourist arrivals with RM102.7 billion in tourism receipts in 2024, with 5 million arrivals targeted to be from the Chinese market.
Through its overseas offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Tourism Malaysia continues to intensify promotions alongside travel agents and airlines in gearing up for the next Visit Malaysia Year set in 2026. With the resumption and announcement of new routes from Malaysia-based airlines and China-based airlines such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Xiamen Air, Loong Air, and Spring Airlines, there are currently 327 flights per week between China and Malaysia.
