Malaysia visa waiver announcement sends travel searches soaring in China

By Hoang Vu November 30, 2023 | 03:27 pm PT

Travelers arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, 2021. Photo by Reuters

Searches for Malaysia have surged on Chinese travel platforms after that country announced that Chinese visitors would be allowed 30-day visa-free entry from Dec. 1.

After Sunday's announcement, the number of searches on Qunar nearly doubled from the previous week, Global Times reported.

On the app, there are direct flights available from various Chinese cities to Kuala Lumpur.

The fare for a Beijing-Kuala Lumpur flight in December is around 750 yuan (US$104).

The search index for Malaysia on Tongcheng increased by 173% from the previous week, for hotels there by 112%, and for flights to Kuala Lumpur by 98%.

Searches on Mafengwo were up 166%, news site Yicai Global reported.

Before the pandemic China was Malaysia’s third largest source of tourists, with around 3.1 million of them visiting in 2019, according to data from Tourism Malaysia.

The number of Chinese visitors to Malaysia had jumped 10-fold to 403,121 in the 12 months until the end of May this year.

Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines have been competing to attract tourists from China with changes to entry policies.