Recently, Malaysia's Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and Tourism Malaysia launched the second post-COVID-19 marketing roadshow to China, aiming to strengthen the tourism relationship between China and Malaysia and further towards the target of 23.5 million international visitors and RM76.8 billion tourism revenue by 2025 through a series of promotional activities.
Mr. Amirul Abudl Rahim, Senior Deputy Director of Tourism Malaysia's International Promotion Division (Asia/Africa), said that from March 29 to April 15, Tourism Malaysia held marketing sessions in Beijing, Chongqing and Guangxi, as well as major roadshows in Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen. In addition to a number of offline business fairs, leisure tourism and themed tourism promotion events, Malaysia hopes to re-establish a platform for exchanges and interaction with Chinese tourism operators, strengthen close cooperation and seize the opportunity of restarting international travel in the Chinese market by promoting niche themed tourism, study tour education tourism, Malaysia Second Home Program and healthcare tourism. To enhance the confidence of Chinese tourists to visit Malaysia and convey the message that the local government is actively preparing for the "Malaysia Tourism Year 2025".
Amirul Abudl Rahim stressed that he was pleased that Malaysia was included in the list of destinations for the first batch of pilot recovery group outbound Tours in China, as China is a very important source market for Malaysia. Bullish on the potential of future market recovery, 68 Tourism Malaysia partners participated in the event, including representatives from four state Tourism offices in Selangor, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, Malaysian Medical Tourism Council (MHTC), Malaysia Second Home (MM2H), And representatives from the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce for the Promotion of Tourism and Culture (MICA) and the Malaysian Association of Travel Agents (MATTA). With 16.1 million international tourists expected to visit Malaysia this year, tourism revenue is expected to reach RM49.2bil. Tourism Malaysia is targeting to achieve 23.5 million international visitors and RM76.8 billion in tourism revenue by 2025.
China-malaysia aviation capacity continues to recover and incentive travel teams gradually return
Aviation business between China and Malaysia also continues to recover. Currently, there are 81 weekly flights from the Chinese mainland to Malaysia, including Malaysia International Airlines, AirAsia, Malay-India Air, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern Airlines, Southern Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and Spring Airlines. Airasia also recently launched a ticket promotion from Beijing/Guangzhou to Kuala Lumpur. In the future, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture of Malaysia will continue to strengthen cooperation with airlines, travel agencies, tourism businesses and hotels through Tourism Malaysia offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to actively expand the tourism market in China, encourage more flights between the two countries and promote connectivity between China and Malaysia.
Malaysia aims to welcome 114,000 corporate conference and incentive travel visitors by 2023, according to Malaysian tour operators. Fortunately, more incentive travel groups are coming to Malaysia. However, due to the fact that aviation has not recovered to pre-2019 levels, the thousand-strong team is still small, with customers mainly coming from surrounding areas. The current largest group for 2023 is Taiwan Wang Pin Group, whose 3,000-member incentive tour group will travel in batches from March 26 to Sept 28, generating an estimated economic gain of RM57.9mil. Perfect China is expected to return in the third or fourth quarter of this year. Overall, Kuala Lumpur is the top destination for incentive travel groups. Staying at the Grand Safflower Hotel, exploring the history of Malacca, experiencing Yarrow Street Night Market, duty-free shopping at Genting Highland Brand Mall and Yuntian Complex, as well as taking photos at Chinatown, Kwai Chai, Saroma Footbridge, Kuala Lumpur City Within City and National Palace are all popular trips.
Malaysia's leisure travel market has been recovering rapidly, with city destinations, beaches, nature attractions, diving sites, and health and wellness experiences particularly popular. In addition, Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) Chief Operating Officer Noor Ahmad Hamid recently announced the introduction of the UFI Certified Expert (UCP) programme to Malaysia in July this year in collaboration with the International Association of Exhibition Industries (UFI), covering exhibition management and venue management through in-person and online courses. To upgrade the skills of industry professionals and strengthen Malaysia's exhibition industry.
