LETTERS: Unless another pandemic strikes, tourist arrivals to Malaysia are likely to be around 18 million next year.
It will take several more years to surpass 25.8 million, which was the annual average in the decade between 2010 and 2019.
But if a 30-day visa-free entry granted to nationals of 87 countries and all Asean nations (except Myanmar) were to be extended to China and India, our tourism industry could fully recover in double quick time.
At the very least, Malaysia could grant 14-day visa-free entry to Chinese and Indian nationals. This is granted to people from Iran and Libya. People from 39 countries and all nations of the European Union enjoy 90-day visa-free entry.
The new tourism minister is aware of this fact, having served as the prime minister's special envoy to China in the previous cabinet. He must convince the new home minister that Chinese and Indian nationals should be accorded visa-free entry too.
In 2019, Malaysia received 26,100,784 foreign tourists, with 3,114,257 from China and 735,309 from India. In the same year, Thailand received almost 40 million foreign tourists, with 11 million from China and two million from India.
Although Chinese nationals were ranked third and Indians sixth in terms of tourist arrivals to Malaysia in 2019, their expenditures were the second and fifth highest, respectively. In other words, they contributed not only to headcount but also to tourist dollars.
Y.S. Chan
Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times