Malaysia seeks to attract wealthy Vietnamese tourists

A report from the Malaysian National Administration of Tourism, presented at a conference to boost Malaysia's tourism held in Hanoi on Tuesday, said Vietnam was one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia and that people have more disposable income to spend on leisure activities such as tourism.

"Vietnamese visitors tend to stay longer and spend more than people from other countries, which could help boost Malaysia's economic growth," the report said.

Most Vietnamese tourists enjoy a five-day vacation in Malaysia where they spend most of their time visiting shopping centers and famous destinations as well as exploring beautiful beaches.

Malaysia is trying to attract Vietnamese tourists by reducing airfares and hotel room rates as well as removing all Covid restrictions and increasing flight frequency.

Currently, there are 131 direct flights from Vietnam to Malaysia each week with more than 23,400 tickets sold by the six airlines of the two countries.

Now, passengers are exempt from wearing masks on flights to and from Malaysia, but are still required to comply with pandemic restrictions in public places.

In 2019, Malaysia welcomed more than 26 million international visitors with its total tourism revenue reaching more than US$19.4 billion.

Nor Hayati Zainuddin, director of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Agency in Vietnam, hoped Malaysia would receive about 300,000 Vietnamese tourists this year, double last year's figure.

Before the pandemic, Malaysia welcomed more than 400,000 Vietnamese tourists each year.