Malaysia is planning to relax Visa On Arrival (VOA) requirements for tourists from China and India with a view to boost the national tourism industry. The current VOA requirements are likely to be relaxed for both Indian and Chinese nationals to make way for more influx of tourists from both these countries. Malaysia’s Art & Culture Minister Datuk Mohammadin Kettapi has clarified yesterday that this move may be implemented this year but he however hasn’t divulged any extra information regarding this.
In a statement to the media yesterday he said “I don’t see any problem with that. We are looking for more tourists, so we need to be lenient. We may relax (VOA requirement), but we need discussions with other relevant ministries and ministers.”
The Malaysia Association Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) President Datuk Tan Kok Liang has pointed out that there has been a decline of 3 per cent in number of tourist arrivals into Malaysia in 2017 compared to the year 2016. To increase the tourist footfall and to boost Malaysia’s tourism industry the MATTA has urged the government to provide visa-free travel to both Chinese and Indian nationals.
The Malaysian Art & Culture Minster also said that his ministry is in discussions with major international airlines like Qatar Airways, Condor, TUI fly and Indigo Airline to increase their existing network of flight destinations from Malaysia in order to cover more destinations. It may be noted that most of these airlines have their flight operations from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
