Analysis: Visa-free travel with China welcomed in Malaysia but hurdles remain for tourism sector
From Dec 1, visitors from China - as well as India - will be allowed to enter Malaysia without the need for a visa for up to 30 days.
A view of Kuala Lumpur's skyline in Malaysia on May 30, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Hasnoor Hussain)
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SINGAPORE: Even as Malaysia anticipates an influx of Chinese travellers following the implementation of a visa-free programme between both sides, it must make efforts to maintain the expected momentum of inbound tourists, an analyst told CNA.
Among the initiatives Malaysia could explore are to implement hassle-free immigration lanes to ensure the ease of travel, as well as conduct studies to understand Chinese tourist purchases and behaviour.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Sunday (Nov 26) that visitors from China - as well as India - would be granted visa-free travel for visits of up to 30 days. This will take effect from Dec 1.
"Next year, Malaysia will be celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties with China," Mr Anwar was quoted by local media as saying during the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) annual congress over the weekend.
Dr Puvaneswaran Kunasekaran, a senior lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia’s faculty of human ecology, told CNA that the occasion is “a big advantage for Malaysia to (carry out a) massive promotion” to attract tourists from China.
China is one of the biggest markets for Malaysia’s tourism businesses, he said. He warned, however, that other dominant players in the region could pose a threat to Malaysia’s goal of drawing in Chinese tourists.
Malaysia's neighbouring country of Thailand, for example, has waived visas for Chinese nationals from Sep 25 until February next year, to middling results.
Meanwhile, a similar visa-free policy was also announced by China for Malaysia and five other European countries - namely France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain - that will begin on Dec 1. The visa-free entry into China for these countries is valid for visits of up to 15 days and is part of a one-year trial.
Malaysian tourists whom CNA spoke to said that the removed hurdle of a visa application has piqued their interest to travel to China, although they said that the inability to access everyday apps like Google may pose an issue to their travels.
MAINTAIN MOMENTUM OF CHINESE TOURISTS, URGE ANALYST
The move by Malaysia to grant 30 days of visa-free entry will increase the number of Chinese visitors, said Dr Puvaneswaran, who urged local tour and travel authorities to maintain the expected momentum of Chinese tourists.
“This move is actually a ‘promotion trailer’ to introduce a bigger ‘Visit Malaysia Year 2026’ to the Chinese market,” he told CNA, adding that the influx of Chinese tourists has the potential to reach its peak in 2026.
“Visit Malaysia Year” is a campaign held by the Malaysian government every several years to promote the country as a tourist destination. The most recent in this series was Visit Malaysia Year 2020, themed “Visit Truly Asia Malaysia”.
Dr Puvaneswaran noted that Chinese tourists make up the biggest market for Malaysian tourism businesses, apart from travellers from Singapore and Indonesia in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
When contacted, the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) told CNA that Malaysian hoteliers are prepared for the influx of Chinese tourists, adding that increased tourist arrivals would significantly boost the recovery rate of Malaysia's hotel industry.
"The number of arrivals we receive now still lags behind the figures we achieved pre-pandemic," said the association.
"We hope that ... the government would use this opportunity to enhance their China-targeted marketing efforts.
Commenting on the travel pattern of Chinese visitors, Dr Puvaneswaran said that many tourists from China also visit neighbouring countries like Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
“Thus, their travel to Malaysia is not always a lengthy stay,” he told CNA.
To address this, he stressed that Malaysia should diversify its tourism products in order to set it apart from its competitors, especially Thailand.
“There are many cultural and community-based tourism products which are unpolished diamonds in Malaysia. These could be properly established for the Chinese market,” he said.
Beyond that, a mega Chinese New Year Festival next year in Malaysia - marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries - could be organised, suggested Dr Puvaneswaran.
He added that to increase tourism numbers, both the Chinese and Malaysian governments could implement hassle-free immigration lanes, as well as an app to track tourist data in order to further understand their purchases and behaviour.
Ms Su Yaxuan, a Chinese citizen who is currently residing in Singapore, said that the visa-free entry to Malaysia would make her travel plans there even more convenient.
“In fact, I already have a Malaysia e-visa. I’ve always wanted to visit Malaysia more, and the prospect of visa-free entry simplifies the process for me,” she told CNA.
The Malaysia e-visa has a three-month validity period and costs about RM105 (US$22), according to the Malaysian immigration department’s website.
Ms Su said that the application process for the e-visa is relatively convenient as she does not need to go down to the embassy to submit her documents. It only took three days to obtain the visa, she added.
Nonetheless, the PhD student said that she welcomes the visa-free entry program for Chinese travellers.
“I’ve always had the desire to spend more time in Malaysia because I’m a huge fan of the food, culture, and water sports the country has to offer.
“(The visa-free entry) is particularly exciting because I’ve been considering trying scuba diving in Malaysia and with this new policy, I can explore this opportunity without any additional visa preparations,” said Ms Su.
According to the Global Times, the search index on the major Chinese travel platform Qunar for Malaysia nearly doubled compared to the previous week after the visa-free program was announced.
During the tabling of Budget 2024 in October this year, Mr Anwar said that the government is aiming to pull in 26.1 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2026. The government has also allocated RM350 million to boost tourism promotions and activities, he said.
CHINA LACKING INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS, SAYS ANALYST
Dr Song Haiyan, the Associate Dean in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, told CNA that more countries are expected to be granted visa-free entry into China in order to prop up tourism in the country.
“The announcement of visa-free countries last week is the beginning of many (more) to be announced in the future,” said Dr Song.
“The main purpose is to encourage international tourists to visit China, which is badly needed for many destinations within China. Although domestic tourism is booming, international tourists are lacking due to the three-year lockdowns.”
According to local media, Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said in July last year that in 2019, 3.1 million Chinese tourists had visited Malaysia, as compared with 1.38 million Malaysians who had been to China.
Explaining why the six countries last week were granted visa-free entry, Dr Song said that the countries “are relatively neutral towards the conflicts between China and the United States, and they are also major import-export countries with China.”
“So visa-free entry for such citizens … will further stimulate the economic ties with these countries,” he told CNA.
He added that moving forward, China needs to simplify the payment systems for foreign tourists.
“International tourists from these countries still prefer cash payments when purchasing goods and services in China.
“Although WeChat and AliPay have linked their payment systems to Visa and MasterCard, there are still many problems in terms of getting the payment systems working properly for mobile phone users from these countries,” said Dr Song.
China’s mobile payment network became highly closed-off to overseas tourists since mobile apps became the predominant payment method in the country in the late 2010s, reported Reuters.
Foreign visitors often find themselves unable to pay for things in China where many shops and restaurants now only accept mobile payment rather than credit cards or cash.
Ms Sebrina Tai Thye, a Malaysian project engineer, welcomed the initiative by China, particularly after her previous visa applications to enter the country were fraught with numerous difficulties.
“When I had some questions to ask, I was not able to contact the Chinese Visa Application Centre. I tried calling the centre number provided on Google multiple times but no one picked up,” said the 25-year-old.
She added that issues encountered at the visa centre took a long time to be resolved.
“When booking an appointment to submit my visa application, I accidentally booked an appointment for ‘legalisation’ instead of ‘visa’. I was denied entry (at the centre) and had to apply for another appointment on another date … to (submit my visa),” said Ms Tai.
The visa centre is located in Kuala Lumpur, an estimated 3.5-hour drive from Johor Bahru where Ms Tai lives.
Ms Tai added that her visa was not approved on time for one of her business trips to China. “As a result, I had to postpone my flight by a week,” she said, noting that the visa centre website had no information about how long the visa approval would take.
Ms Tai said that while she is eager to visit China for leisure purposes due to the visa-free entry for Malaysians, she found it inconvenient at times as mobile applications she was used to using had been blocked.
“China is a beautiful country to experience. (But) it was quite inconvenient for me to navigate and explore (the country) at first because I was so used to using apps such as Google search engine and Google maps,” she told CNA.
Under China’s Internet censorship policy, several applications which are commonly used worldwide, including Google, cannot be accessed in China.
Another Malaysian traveller, Mr Johan Ariff, said that he would be interested in travelling to China, especially as he will not need to fork out any money for a visa.
“I won’t need to worry about having to book a visa. And I could also save a lot of money since I won’t have to pay for a visa,” said the 25-year-old maintenance engineer.
A visa for a single entry to China for Malaysians can cost anywhere between RM105 to RM320.
Mr Johan also told CNA that it would be helpful if more information about China were available, especially on social media.
“Since the Chinese society is somewhat restricted … from the world, it’s hard for potential tourists like me in other countries to get a better view of what it’s actually like in China, and how advanced their society really is,” he said.
