People's Friendliness, Language Diversity Give Malaysia The Edge In Drawing Tourists From China

BEIJING, March 3 (Bernama) -- The people's friendliness, courteousness and language diversity are among the factors that give Malaysia the edge in attracting more tourists from China. Malaysia's Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz said the neighbouring countries offered almost similar tourtism products like food, culture and scenic sea views but in Malaysia, the Mandarin spoken by Chinese tourists could be understood by the local people. He said many Malaysians, from northernmost state Perlis in Peninsular Malaysia to east Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, not only could speak Mandarin fluently but also Chinese dialects like Cantonese, Teochew and Hokkien. "These factors make it easy for them (tourists from China) to visit Malaysia even if they are not fluent in English," he said after attending a gathering with Malaysian students, here. Mohamed Nazri said the good weather and low value of the ringgit, Malaysian currency were also among the factors, adding that Malaysia was a choice destination for tourists from China compared to the neighbouring countries. He said the tourism sector was vital for Malaysia, with China being the government's market target, hence the implementation of e-visa to facilitate China's tourist arrivals in Malaysia. Malaysia's tourism promotion in China not only focused on major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou but also second-tier and third-tier cities like Chengdu and Xian, he added. In efforts to achieve the target of drawing four million tourists from China to Malaysia this year, Mohamed Nazri also urged Malaysian students in China to act as mini tourism ambassadors. He said students who managed to influence China's citizens to visit Malaysia would be awarded with an incentive, and a new scheme would be announced after negotiating with Singapore Airlines. "For example, if they can get 10 to 16 of their friends in China to visit Malaysia, they can get a free ticket to fly home to Malaysia." He hoped that such an incentive could encourage Malaysian students in China to continue promoting Malaysia to enable the government reach its target. --BERNAMA