China travellers to make shorter trips and in smaller groups amid Covid-19 fears: Malaysia tourism players
[KUALA LUMPUR] While businesses in Malaysia’s tourism sector are upbeat now that China ended mandatory quarantines earlier this month, the ongoing concerns over public health mean that smaller group tours will be the norm for the foreseeable future.
Malaysia Inbound Chinese Association president Angie Ng told The Business Times that since news broke of China’s reopening, she has received around 200 to 300 bookings from China, mostly for shorter trips that include transport and accommodation.
“The travel pattern has changed. We are seeing an increasing number of small travel groups of four to six people, and a majority of them are choosing to stay longer in one place, rather than sightseeing tours (that go to different places),” she said.
She also noted that with visitors still prioritising their health and safety in mind due to Covid-19, it is eco-tourism and agricultural tourism that have grown in popularity as people prefer outdoor activities and the opportunity to self-drive.
Ng said that group travel packages will still be offered, but these will be more customised especially for older travellers who prefer tour companies to plan their itinerary. “Even if the younger tourists prefer to plan their own trips, we can still capture another 50 per cent of the tourists aged 50 and above,” she added.
Kuala Lumpur Tourist Guides’ Association chairman Peter Pan shared a similar view, adding that the future of group travel would be different due to safety concerns.
For instance, there will be fewer people allowed in a bus to enable social distancing, and there will be more coordination to ensure large crowds do not arrive at the same attraction or venue at the same time.
Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association deputy president Mint Leong does not expect large numbers of China tourists in the first half of this year, with many still taking a cautious view on travel. Even so, their priority at this time is to visit relatives whom they might not have seen for a long time.
“We expect the bigger travel groups to return in the second half of the year. This means the industry players – those in transportation, tour planners, hoteliers and food and beverage – have a few months to get ready,” she added.
Ivan Teo, the chairman of the Malaysian Association of Hotels’ Johor chapter, said hoteliers have no problem in handling a surge in the number of tourists, although their main concern is finding additional manpower in the event of a fresh Covid-19 outbreak.
He noted that the recent implementation of shorter working hours in Malaysia has led to a manpower shortage. Under the amendments of the Employment Act 1955 that kicked in on Jan 1 this year, employees are allowed to work for no more than 45 hours a week, down from 48 hours previously.
“In case of an outbreak, hotels will need to temporarily increase their manpower to replace staff who are under quarantine,” he said.
Before the pandemic, Malaysia’s tourist arrivals reached 26.1 million in 2019. The top three source markets were Singapore (10.2 million), Indonesia (3.62 million) and China (3.1 million).
Tourism spending that year came up to RM86.1 billion (S$26.3 billion), with the top three spenders from Singapore (RM20.6 billion), China (RM15.3 billion) and Indonesia (RM13.billion).
Malaysia’s tourism industry contributed nearly 16 per cent to the economy in 2019 and employed around 3.6 million people, or close to 24 per cent of the country’s workforce.
In 2020 as international borders were mostly shut due to the pandemic, arrivals plunged to just 4.3 million with total spending reaching only RM12.7 billion. The number of tourists fell further in 2021 to 135,000, with receipts of RM240 million.
Malaysia’s tourism ministry earlier has set a target of 4.5 million tourist arrivals with RM11.1 billion in tourism receipts for 2022.
