Visa-free travel revitalising Penang's tourism sector
GEORGE TOWN: Since the introduction of visa-free travel with China in December 2023, many hotels in Penang have nearly doubled their business, with expectations of further growth as the policy expands, according to tourism industry insiders.
Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Penang chapter chairman Tony Goh said the influx of Chinese tourists has revitalised the hotel industry after the Covid-19 pandemic.
On average, Chinese tourists book stays ranging from two days in three- to five-star hotels, often travelling with family or friends rather than in large tour groups.
'Since December 2023, most hotels have experienced double- digit growth.
'Without this influx of Chinese nationals, hotels would be suffering,' he said.
Currently, Malaysians can travel to China visa-free until Dec 31 this year, while Chinese nationals enjoy visa-free travel to Malaysia until Dec 31 next year.
Last month, it was announced that the Malaysia-China visa-free period has been extended for five years, allowing citizens of both countries to stay visa-free for up to 90 days cumulatively over six months in either country.
The agreement allows stays of up to 30 days for each entry into either country. It is expected to come into force once both countries complete the necessary bureaucratic procedures. The agreement was signed during President Xi Jinping's visit to Malaysia.
Association of Tourism Attractions Penang (Atap) chairman Datuk Ch'ng Huck Theng echoed the optimism that the expanded visa-free travel could boost tourism in Penang.
'There are many attractions in Penang that cannot be duplicated in their own country, so tourists need to come and see for themselves. This is a good sign for us,' he said.
While the mutual visa exemption policy is a positive development, Penang Tourist Guide Association (PTGA) chairman Clement Liang said it should be carefully monitored to prevent abuse.
'While visa-free entry offers convenience and promotes tourism, it should not come at the expense of regulatory oversight.
'We have already heard of foreign photographers providing freelance services, such as wedding tourism packages. This is against local employment regulations. We should aim for sustainable tourism practices rather than mass tourism,' he said.
Penang tourism and creative economy committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said Penang is supportive of the initiative as it will further boost tourism and promote extended stays, especially during winter escapes.
He noted a significant increase in Chinese visitors during the recent five-day Labour Day Golden Week, with direct flights between China and Penang rising by 175% compared to the previous year.
During the Golden Week period in May 2024, there were 24 weekly flights operated by four airlines.
This year, the same period saw 66 weekly flights operated by 11 airlines, he added.
Wong said among the popular destinations were the George Town Unesco World Heritage Site and Penang Hill, which is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve.
He said between May 1 to May 4, the funicular train up the hill recorded a total ridership of 30,858, with visitors from China accounting to 13.7%.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
27 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
China affirms trade deal with US, says it ‘always keeps its word and delivers results'
BEIJING, June 12 — China today affirmed a trade deal announced by US President Donald Trump, saying both sides needed to abide by the consensus and adding China always kept its word. The deal, reached after Trump and China's President Xi Jinping spoke on the telephone last week, brings a delicate truce in a trade war between the world's two largest economies. 'China has always kept its word and delivered results,' Lin Jian, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said at a regular news conference. 'Now that a consensus has been reached, both sides should abide by it.' The Trump-Xi telephone call broke a standoff that had flared just weeks after a preliminary deal was reached in Geneva. The call was quickly followed by more talks in London that Washington said had put 'meat on the bones' of the Geneva agreement to ease bilateral retaliatory tariffs. The Geneva deal had faltered over China's continued curbs on minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, jet engines for Chinese-made planes and other goods to China. Trump yesterday said he was very happy with the trade deal. 'Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,' Trump said on Truth Social. 'Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55 per cent tariffs, China is getting 10 per cent.' Still, specifics of the latest deal and details on how it will be implemented remain unclear. A White House official said the 55 per cent represents the sum of a baseline 10 per cent 'reciprocal' tariff Trump has imposed on goods imported from nearly all US trading partners, 20 per cent on all Chinese imports associated with his accusation that China had not done enough to stem the flow of fentanyl into the US, and pre-existing 25 per cent levies on imports from China put in place during Trump's first presidential term. — Reuters
The Star
39 minutes ago
- The Star
Alibaba staff worked through holiday after DeepSeek breakthrough
Alibaba realised it had fallen behind in AI after the introduction of DeepSeek's R1 model, Tsai (pic) said at the VivaTech conference in Paris on June 11. — Reuters Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's engineers canceled vacations and worked through the Chinese New Year holiday to play catch up after DeepSeek shocked the global tech industry with its low-cost, powerful artificial-intelligence model in January. The Chinese e-commerce company realised it had fallen behind in AI after the introduction of DeepSeek's R1 model, Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai said at the VivaTech conference in Paris on Wednesday. He offered the anecdote as an example of how competitive the Chinese tech industry has become. 'Our engineering leads decided, they said, 'Cancel your Chinese New Year holiday. Everybody stay in the company. Sleep in the office. We are going to accelerate our development',' he said. 'Within a few weeks, we launched our version, which is the Qwen series of models, which is not bad. It's very, quite competitive.' Chinese New Year, one of the most important annual holidays in China as people use the extended break to spend time with their families, started in late January this year and extended into early February. Alibaba has since been releasing new models at a rapid clip as it pivots to focus on AI and especially artificial general intelligence. It has also pledged to invest more than 380bil yuan (RM 223.18 bil) on AI infrastructure such as data centres over the next three years. The Chinese company has secured a partnership with Apple Inc to provide AI tech for iPhones, Tsai said earlier this year, although the deal has attracted scrutiny from US officials. The returns of Alibaba's massive investments also remain uncertain. The company's March quarter sales grew a mere 7%, as its performance was dragged down by a prolonged Chinese economic slowdown. – Bloomberg
New Straits Times
43 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Japan's Nikkei falls as US stock futures decline, firmer yen weighs
TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Thursday as a stronger yen prompted a sell-off of exporters, while declines in US stock futures hurt sentiment. The Nikkei fell 0.7 per cent to close at 38,173.09. The broader Topix slipped 0.2 per cent. "Investors sold Japanese equities as they bet Wall Street would be weak again later in the day, after seeing declines of US stock futures in Asia hours," said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory. "But the Nikkei closed above the 38,000 level for a fourth consecutive day, it seems that the index has cleared the first hurdle for further gains." The S&P 500 ended lower overnight, with investors spooked by Middle East tensions, while a tame inflation report calmed concerns around tariff-driven price pressures and traders awaited more details on the China-US trade talks. S&P and Nasdaq futures each fell about 0.3 per cent in Asia trade. The yen strengthened about 0.6 per cent to trade at 143.67 per dollar. Uniqlo-brand owner Fast Retailing dropped 2.6 per cent to drag the Nikkei the most. Automakers declined as the yen gained, with Toyota Motor and Honda Motor losing 1.5 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively. A stronger yen typically weighs on exporter shares by reducing the value of overseas earnings when converted back into Japanese currency. The yen's strength this week has worked to keep the Nikkei below 38,500, Mizuho Securities analyst Yutaka Miura said. "The yen's appreciation trend is expected to continue moderately, which is likely to be a factor in limiting the upside of Japan stocks," he said, predicting the Nikkei will move in the 36,000-39,000 range this month. Bucking the trend among exporters, Nintendo rose 1.1 per cent after the game maker said it had sold more than 3.5 million Switch 2 units in the first four days after its launch, making the console the company's fastest-selling gaming device to date. Sumitomo Pharma was far and away the Nikkei's top percentage gainer, surging by its daily limit of 17 per cent after Daiwa Securities upgraded the stock.
