Chinese tourists cancel Malaysia air-tickets
April 26 Hindustantimes
Nearly 30% of Chinese tourists have cancelled their bookings to visit
Malaysia this year since the mysterious disappearance of a Malaysian jet
with 227 passengers, over two-thirds of them Chinese, adversely hitting
the country's tourism industry.
"Due to the promotion of Visit Malaysia Year 2014, many had initially
made preparations to visit Malaysia in the second half of this year but
we have received many cancellations since the MH370 incident," Tourism
Malaysia Chairman Ng Yen Yen has said.
More than two-thirds of those on board the missing Beijing-bound
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are Chinese.Malaysia has been criticised
for its handling of the tragedy, particularly by the relatives of the
154 Chinese passengers on board the plane, besides being accused of
hiding crucial information.
It is estimated that 100,000 tourists from China visit Malaysia each
month and each of them would spend RM2,800 ($865) while in the country,
but following the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight, 30% of
their bookings have been cancelled and it involved a cost RM100 million
in just six weeks," she told reporters here last week.
Ng said the tragedy had also affected travel and tour operators who
were now left to handle only five groups of tourists daily compared to
20 groups daily previously, Bernama news agency reported.
The data on the slump in in-bound tourists from China was collected
by the Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association which manages a majority of
the Chinese tourist arrivals in the country through its network of some
70 companies.Apart from the MH370 incident, the abduction of a Chinese
tourist by armed men at the Singamata Reef Resort off Semporna in Sabah
on April 2 also contributed to a drop in tourist arrivals from Hong Kong
and Taiwan.Ng said the biggest impact of potential revenue loss from
Chinese tourists involved those originating from major cities such as
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. |