MH370 Tragedy Affects Chinese Tourist Arrivals, 30 Per Cent Of Trips Cancelled

PUTRAJAYA, April 18 (Bernama) -- The tragic disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has affected the number of Chinese tourist arrivals to Malaysia this year when 30 per cent of them have cancelled their trips so far, involving a cost of US$30.86 million (RM100 million). Tourism Malaysia chairman Dr Ng Yen Yen said even forward bookings had yet to reach its annual target of 70 per cent. "In January, the number of Chinese tourist arrivals had increased by 25 per cent and many of them had even made hotel reservations and purchased tourism packages to visit Malaysia in middle of this year, but after the MH370 tragedy, most of them cancelled their plans. "It is estimated that 100,000 tourists from China visit Malaysia each month and each of them would spend US$864 (RM2,800) while in the country, but following the disappearance of flight MH370, 30 per cent of their bookings have been cancelled and it involved a cost RM100 million in just six weeks," she told a press conference after meeting with tourism industry players here Thursday. Ng said the tragedy had also affected travel and tour operators who were now left to handle only five groups of tourists daily compared to 20 groups daily previously. A total of 1.7 tourists from China visited Malaysia last year. Dr Ng said China's Southern Airlines had also decided to reduce their Beijing-Kuala Lumpur flights from thrice to once daily starting May due to passenger shortage. "Xiamen Airlines, which supposed to increase its Beijing-Kuala Lumpur flight frequency to 10 times a week, had also postponed the plan," she said. Meanwhile, Dr Ng said the Tourism Malaysia MH370 Crisis Committee chaired by Tourism Malaysia director in China had been set up on March 19 to gather information about the cancellation of reservations and forward bookings in Malaysia. "Apart from that, tourism industry players would also look into new markets, especially in second-tier cities, such as Nanning, Chengdu, Wuhan and Kunming, to reduce the impact of the MH370 tragedy," she said. Dr Ng said Tourism Malaysia would also emulate the move taken by the Tourism and Culture Ministry in postponing temporarily the road show to promote Visit Malaysia Year 2014 in China following the tragedy. "We realise and understand the current situation and how people are scared and have lost their confidence. Therefore, we need to restore their confidence. We have to stop temporarily our promotional campaign in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, but this doesn't mean that we are not doing anything. "We are actually in the midst of gathering information and formulating strategies to ascertain the impact of the MH370 tragedy," she said. Dr Ng said Tourism Malaysia would also propose to Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz to abolish visa requirements for tourists from China in conjunction with the 40th anniversary on Malaysia-China diplomatic ties. "This will attract more tourists from China to come to Malaysia. Without having to worry about visa requirements, they can visit Malaysia at any time," she added. -- BERNAMA