JOHOR BARU: The number of tourist arrivals from China and India is expected to increase with the government’s move to provide a 15-day visa-free entry to Malaysia for a one year period from Jan 1.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Noor Zari Hamat said tourists from the two Asian countries were already among the top contributors to the nation’s tourism sector.
He said tourists from Singapore and Indonesia remained the top arrivals, followed by tourists from China, India and Thailand.
“We expect tourists arrivals from China and India to remain high with the move by the government to suspend the need for visa for one year.
“The exact number of tourists from the two nations will be announced early next year. Based on the latest data, tourists from the two countries are among nationals from the top five nations visiting Malaysia,” Noor Zari said at a press conference after attending the Malaysia Batik Fashion show held at the Johor Craft Festival 2019 here today.
Malaysia has set a 30 million tourist arrival for Visit Malaysia Year 2020 which begins on Jan 1 in a bid to make Malaysia the destination of choice for leisure and business.
In 2018, Malaysia welcomed a total of 25.8 million international tourists, while in first nine months of 2019, Malaysia’s tourism industry performance had shown positive development. International tourist arrivals recorded was 20,109,203 while tourist expenditure reached RM66.14 billion.
The first VMY was first launched in 1990 with the theme "Fascinating Malaysia. Year of Festivals". The campaign proved to be a success as 7.4 million in tourist arrivals with RM4.5 billion in tourist receipts.
The success of VMY 1990 spurred another VMY in 1994. This time around, the theme was "Fascinating Malaysia. Naturally More". The 1994 version saw 7.2 million tourist arrivals, with total tourist expenditure touching RM8.3 Billion.
The third VMY was launched in 2007 in conjunction with Malaysia’s 50th Independence Anniversary, with the theme "Celebrating 50 years of Nationhood". The VMY 2007 saw a tourist arrival touching 20.97 million and a RM46.1 billion in tourist receipts.
In 2014, Malaysia celebrated its fourth Visit Malaysia Year with the theme "Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia" to reflect the diversity in unity of Malaysians. The country received 27.4 million tourists, with tourism expenditure touching RM72 billion.
Meanwhile, Noor Zari said the ministry was hoping the Johor Craft Festival would achieve a RM7.5 million worth of craft sales with the attendance of more than 135,000 visitors.
"The organising of the Johor Craft Festival 2019 is not only to promote craft products for locals but also it is to promote national craft products for Visit Malaysia Year 2020," he said.