KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Inbound Tourism Malaysia (MITA) has welcomed the entry of Chinese tourists to Malaysia from Jan 8.
MITA said China is a very important market for the Malaysian Tourism Industry. In 2019, Malaysia has received 3 million Chinese Tourists which greatly helped to improve the country's economy.
"If Malaysia prevents the arrival of Chinese tourists, then the country will suffer a huge loss. Neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and others will be able to attract the market to their countries," said Mita President Uzaidi Udanis.
He said MITA's position in welcoming China tourists to Malaysia, it encourages the standard operating procedure (SOP) of screening for Covid-19 at the country's entry points to be equal to all tourists irrespective of their nationality.
Uzaidi said this was to ensure that there is no "Double Standard" against Chinese tourists.
He also called upon the government not to make drastic decisions without referring to the latest data from the World Health Organisation and China.
"MITA calls on the Malaysian government to express its position and take steps that will not affect the good relations between the two countries
"MITA supports the YB Minister of Tourism's (Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing) recent statement asking all parties to be careful in giving comments and views on social media and any platform related to the issue of Chinese tourist arrivals," he said.
MITA, Uzaidi said, also requests associations and individuals who do not control the tourist market from China not to issue statements that may offend feelings and cause dissatisfaction with their arrival.
He said the press statement issued by the association urging the government to close the country's borders to tourists from China was irrelevant and would not help the country's economy.
"MITA hopes that Malaysians will not worry about Chinese tourists coming to Malaysia," he said.
On Monday, Tiong urged the public to refrain from making negative comments about inbound travellers from China, especially on social media.
He added that Malaysia has enjoyed long-standing close relations with China and the bond between the two countries must not be broken and also took the opportunity to thank China's people and leaders for making Malaysia one of the top 10 overseas destinations for Chinese travellers.
It was reported that the global spending by Chinese visitors was worth over $250 billion a year before the pandemic.
Early last month, China ended its "zero-Covid" policy, which entails lockdowns to contain outbreaks.
Surging cases and a lack of reliable official data on the spread of Covid-19 in China have become a concern ahead of anticipated tourist and business travel arrivals from the country.
The Health Ministry has announced several measures for Covid-19 control including conducting polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing on sewage samples from aircraft arriving from China and increasing surveillance at international entry points for travellers from the country.
Several countries such as Japan, India, the United States, Italy and Taiwan are among those which have imposed mandatory Covid-19 testing for travellers from China.