Malaysia to grant visa exemption for Chinese tourists to boost tourism

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said here Thursday that the country will grant visa exemption for Chinese tourists as a measure to boost tourism.

When announcing the revised Budget 2016, Najib said that subject to certain conditions, visa will not be required for Chinese tourists to Malaysia for a period of no more than 15 days beginning from March 1 to Dec 31, 2016.

This is among the efforts of the Malaysian government to lure the Chinese tourists to prop up its tourism, with the country's economy hit by the weak oil and international commodity price since last year.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the country aims to draw annually 8 million Chinese tourists over the next five years with RM22.1 billion (about 5.24 billion US dollars) spending power.

Acknowledging the arduousness of the target, Zahid said that the average spending of Chinese tourists on food, lodging and shopping has reached RM3345 (about 792.4 dollars), and by taking proper planning and effective promotion, the aim could be realized.