Thanks to a number of supporting factors such as government-sponsored charter flights, visa exemption programs and enhanced overseas tourism promotion activities, Malaysia is aiming to welcome 27.3 million foreign visitors in 2024.
Tourism Malaysia Director-General Ammar Abd Ghapar said that last year, more than 20 million foreign tourists visited Malaysia, exceeding the target of 19.1 million tourists.
He affirmed that the combined funding of charter flights was important to increase the frequency of flights to Malaysia, and expressed hope that the support for international charter flights would encourage airlines to operate more domestic charter flights.
Minister Ammar said the subsidies for special international charter flights will be subject to certain terms and conditions on the frequency of flights… however the tourism industry has seen many positive signs since the addition of 40 international charter flights to Malaysia since January.
Referring to the visa-free entry program that will take effect from December 1, 2023, Mr. Ammar said the number of Chinese and Indian tourists to Malaysia has skyrocketed.
According to trip.com, the number of tourists to Malaysia increased by 53.9% during the Lunar New Year holiday this year compared to the same period last year. The Malaysian tourism industry has been aiming to attract more and more Chinese tourists every month.
In 2023, Malaysia will welcome about 1.4 million Chinese tourists and a total of about 18 million international tourists with tourism spending of USD 14.02 billion. Malaysia is actively developing strategies to achieve its target of attracting more than 5 million Chinese tourists by 2024. New routes from Hangzhou, new routes and package flights connecting first- and second-tier cities in China with Malaysia are expected to meet the growing demand of tourists from China.
Minh Hoa (t/h according to VTV, Bnews)
Source
Comment (0)