THE Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia Ministry (MOTAC) through its agency, Tourism Malaysia has embarked on its maiden sales mission and roadshow to major cities in China from March 29 to April 15.
Coming on the back of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s recent three-day official visit to China, the sales mission takes place in Beijing, Chongqing, Guangxi while the roadshow begins in Guangzhou, followed by Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen.
The mission is headed by Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing alongside 68 organisations comprising state governments, namely Tourism Terengganu, Tourism Selangor, the Sabah Tourism Board and Sarawak Tourism Board.
Others include participating agencies such as the Malaysia Health Tourism Council (MHTC), Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) as well as other industry players from Malaysian Inbound Chinese Association (MICA), Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) and various product owners.
The main objective of this mission is to strengthen marketing efforts and raise Malaysia’s profile for China Market after the re-opening of China market beginning Feb 6 and also to highlight Malaysia’s projection in organising Visit Malaysia 2025.
For the year 2023, Malaysia is targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM49.2 bil in tourism receipts.
The mission also features seminars by Tourism Malaysia which focus on both the leisure market and niche market, namely MM2H and medical tourism.
In conjunction with the sales mission and roadshow, business matching sessions are organised throughout the said cities to serve as a platform for Malaysian industry players to re-connect with China given the long hiatus since the COVID-19 outbreak.
“China is a vital market for Malaysia and we are grateful to be included in their list of 20 countries to visit,” Tiong pointed out in a statement.
“Our presence here today is a testament to our commitment to strengthening our relationship with China. Our focus on the MM2H programme, medical tourism and education tourism will help us achieve our target of 23.5 million international tourist arrivals and RM76.8 bil in tourism receipts by 2025.”
This year, Tourism Malaysia through its Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou offices will intensify promotions alongside with the travel agents and airlines.
On this, the tourism promotion board is optimistic that there will be more flight frequency to boost connectivity between China and Malaysia. At present, there are 81 flights per week from China to Malaysia via Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, China Southern Airlines, Shenzen Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and Malindo Air. – April 12, 2023
