LANZHOU/DUBAI: Tourism Malaysia continues with its second sales mission to China this year across four main cities from 3rd to 9th September 2023. The sales mission kicks off in the city of Changsha, followed by Chengdu, Lanzhou, and Xi’an.
The mission is headed by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, YB Tuan Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan. The Malaysian delegation that participated in the sales mission comprises 58 organisations which include hotels and resorts, travel agents, tourism product owners, Malaysia-based airlines and a state tourism board representative.
The second series of Tourism Malaysia’s sales mission to China is a continuation of the line-up of promotional programmes for the Chinese market in 2023. Tourism Malaysia first initiated its sales mission to China shortly after the country’s international border reopening in February. The first sales mission took place from 6th to 16th April 2023, covering Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen.
“Apart from cultivating confidence in Chinese visitors to return to Malaysia, we hope that this sales mission provides a platform for the industry community to gather, exchange ideas, and return even stronger. We are always exploring further collaborations to bring more visitors to enjoy Malaysia’s wonders and delights,” says YB Tuan Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan.
In gearing up for the next Visit Malaysia Year set in 2026, through this sales mission, Tourism Malaysia aims to strengthen its marketing efforts in China through business sessions, seminars, networking, and emphasising promotions on the leisure market and niche segments, especially the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme.
China remains one of the top market sources for Malaysia and contributed 211,363 arrivals to the country last year. For the first quarter of 2023, Malaysia received as many as 178,150 Chinese tourists, compared to 3,624 (+4,816%) in the same period last year. Malaysia is currently targeting to receive 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM49.3 billion in tourism receipts, with 5 million arrivals targeted to be from the Chinese market.
Through its overseas offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Tourism Malaysia continues to intensify promotions alongside travel agents and airlines. With the resumption and announcement of new international routes from Malaysia-based airlines and China-based airlines such as Xiamen Air, Air China, and Spring Airlines, there are currently 203 flights per week between China and Malaysia. BIZ TODAY INTERNATIONAL MONTORING
