I WAS taken aback upon reading the title of a report, “Tourist arrivals in Malacca up by 4.3 per cent to 12.74 million compared with 8.48 million in 2015”, as the percentage was glaringly wrong.
If the figures are correct, then the percentage went up by 50 per cent, not 4.3 per cent or 43 per cent. The report then quoted Tourism, River, Beach and Islands Development Committee deputy chairman Datuk Ghazale Muhamad, who said that out of the 12.74 million, 8.48 million were domestic tourists and the rest foreigners.
As such, the total number of tourists to Malacca for the first 10 months of 2015 should be 12,214,765, and 12.74 million for the corresponding period of this year, a rise of 4.3 per cent.
The largest number of foreign tourists came from China with 1.14 million, followed by Singapore (1.08 million), Indonesia (563,941), Taiwan (128,504) and Japan (96,917). Nationwide, half of all visitors to our country came from Singapore, followed by Indonesia, China, Thailand, Brunei, India, South Korea, United Kingdom, Japan, the Philippines, Australia and Taiwan. These countries contributed 92 per cent of visitors to Malaysia.
The fact that China tourists increased by 60 per cent from 711,800 last year to 1.14 million this year showed that Malacca’s success in tourism was phenomenal.
More than two million China tourists are expected to visit Ma-laysia next year, with the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel agents aiming for four million.
Impression Melaka, which is the first of the Impression series outside China, will be ready in 2018, and will draw even more China visitors to Malaysia.
The cultural show will feature lights, shadow and dance in a 2,000-seat indoor theatre. With two shows nightly, it can cater up to 1.46 million spectators in a year.
As for Malacca, out of the 12.74 million tourists for the first 10 months of this year, 7.29 million stayed in hotels and homestays, compared with 6.84 million last year, an increase of 6.5 per cent. The number of overnight tourists and hotel occupancy will soar in 2018. It is an exciting time for tourism and Malacca.
Early this year, Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron launched a smartphone application known as Destination Melaka, which can be accessed from anywhere.
Apart from providing information in an organised manner, it can be used to make reservations before or after arrival, used for navigation without having to ask locals for direction, and to keep a record of people’s holiday in Malacca, which can be shared.
It made brochures, maps and tourist guides obsolete as the majority of tourists, including China visitors, are making bookings and travelling on their own.
C.Y. MING, Ampang, Selangor