The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) through its agency, Tourism Malaysia have embarked their first sales mission and roadshow to major cities in China from Mar 29 March to Apr 15. The sales mission takes place in Beijing, Chongqing, Guangxi while the roadshow begins in Guangzhou, followed by Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen.

The mission is headed by Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, Malaysia's Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister together with 68 organisations comprising state governments namely Tourism Terengganu, Tourism Selangor, Sabah Tourism Board, Sarawak Tourism Board, and participating agencies such as Malaysia Health Tourism Council (MHTC), Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) as well as other industry players from Malaysian Inbound Chinese Association (MICA), Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) and product owners.

The main objective of this mission is to strengthen marketing efforts and raise Malaysia's profile for China Market after the reopening of China market beginning Feb 6 and also to highlight Malaysia's projection in organising Visit Malaysia 2025. For this year, Malaysia is targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM49.2 billion in tourism receipts.

Alongside the mission, seminars are held by Tourism Malaysia, focusing on leisure market, niche market namely Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) and medical tourism. Business matching sessions are also organised throughout the cities to give the platform for Malaysian industry players to reconnect with China given the long hiatus since the Covid-19 outbreak.

"China is a vital market for Malaysia and we are grateful to be included in their list of 20 countries to visit. Our presence here today is a testament to our commitment to strengthening our relationship with China. Our focus on the Malaysia My Second Home program, medical tourism and education tourism will help us achieve our target of 23.5 million international tourist arrivals and RM76.8 billion in tourism receipts by 2025," he said.

This year, Tourism Malaysia through its Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou offices will intensify promotions alongside with the travel agents and airlines. Malaysia is optimistic that there will be more flight frequency to boost connectivity between China and Malaysia. At present, there are 81 flights per week from China to Malaysia via Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, Cathay Pacific, China Southern Airlines, Shenzen Airlines, Xiamen Airlines and Malindo Air.

AirAsia's latest promotion offers discounted fares on flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou to Kuala Lumpur for 288 (CNY) (RM186) and from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Kunming, Nanning and Wuhan to Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu for ¥188 (CNY) (RM121). Bookings for this promotion starts from Apr 11 to 16, with travel dates between 17 Apr to Oct 28.

Finally, Motac through Tourism Malaysia will continue their efforts to work alongside the travel industry, including airlines, travel agents, product owners and hoteliers to promote Malaysia in China market.