Travel agents: Visa exemption will benefit both Malaysia and China

BEIJING: Lifting the visa requirement for Chinese tourists will give a huge boost to tourist numbers from China, travel agents here said.

They observed that merely exempting the visa fee had done little in attracting the Chinese to vacation in Malaysia, as tourists still had to go through the application process and pay for the visa processing fee.

Shenzhen Junjie International Travel Services Co Ltd general manager Mei Ge said the incon­venience is the biggest obstacle for both Chinese travel agents and tourists.

“Many travel agents in cities without Malaysian visa processing centres are not interested to promote Malaysia as a holiday destination to their customers.

“Not only does the application process take time, sending the passports by post (to obtain the visas in the centres in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Kunming) has its risks as well,” she said.

Mei added that tourists prefer Thailand or Bali, Indonesia, over Malaysia as those countries have eased visa rules for Chinese passport holders.

“Travelling to Malaysia will be a breeze if Malaysia also offers visa exemption or visa-on-arrival.

“If that happens, our customers can just bring along their passports and leave for their holiday,” she said.

Echoing Mei’s views, China Comfort Travel Group Co Ltd’s citizen tourist department general manager Guo Yu said tourists would opt for destinations with no visa requirements over Malaysia if both places offer similar tourism pro­ducts.

He noted that there are now more free and independent travellers among the Chinese, whose interest in package tours is declining.

Therefore, in order to tap into this trend, he wished to see the requirements for visa exemption for Chinese tour groups, which will soon be implemented on a trial basis, be more flexible.

“It will be great if the definition of tour group can include those travelling in a group of two and above.

“But of course, doing away with the visa policy altogether is still the best,” he said.

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ South-East Asian affairs researcher Xu Liping said if the Malaysian government is worried of Chinese tourists abusing the visa exemption policy to break immigration laws, it can put necessary measures in place.

“Indonesia has also waived visa requirements for the Chinese and this has not encouraged a wave of people smuggling,” he said, adding that a visa-free policy would be mutually beneficial for both Malaysia and China.

The Star on Friday reported that the Malaysian travel industry was also urging the Government to do away with visa requirements for Chinese nationals in an attempt to attract more foreign tourists.