Chinese tourists spend $312M in Malaysia during Lunar New Year holiday

Malaysia was one of the top five destinations for Chinese tourists during their biggest holiday as they flocked there in droves, Paul Paw, president of Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association, said as cited by The Star.

The recent visa waiver for Chinese tourists since late December has been cited as a main reason for driving the surge in tourist numbers, according to tourism insiders.

Thailand, which will begin offering indefinite visa exemption for Chinese tourists from March, also cashed in on high tourist numbers.

It received over 872,000 foreign tourists during the holiday between Feb. 5-11, up 13% from the previous week, according to Khaosod English newspaper. China topped the list of foreign arrivals with over 194,000.

Thailand's tourism revenues during the holiday were estimated to reach more than $950 million, 1.2 times higher than initially expected and up 36% over the same period last year.