MELAKA, Dec 29 — Tourism Malaysia is targeting an approximate increase of seven per cent in Chinese and Indian tourist arrivals, in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2020.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Musa Yusof said this was in connection with the 15-day visa exemption granted to tourists from China and India over a one-year period, apart from the fact that these countries provide the biggest markets for Malaysian tourism.

Expressing his thanks to the government for implementing the exemption in an effort to attract more tourists, he explained that it was not a new initiative as the exemption was put in place earlier and lasts until Dec 31 this year, with the reintroduction of the exemption taking effect from the beginning of 2020.

Musa said this to reporters after the closing ceremony of Tourism Malaysia’s ‘Surfcasting Tour 2019 — A Journey to Visit Malaysia 2020’ held at Pantai Puteri here today.

Approximately 3.26 million Chinese tourists and 683,000 Indian tourists are believed to have visited the country this year.

Musa said 2.41 million visitors from China and 539,167 Indian visitors were recorded for the January to September period this year, and when compared with the same period last year, Chinese tourist arrivals rose by 5.7 per cent, while Indian tourist numbers shot up by 23.2 per cent.

Yesterday, a media portal reported on the 15-day exemption, announced through a ministerial order under the Passports Act 1966, and which was gazetted on Thursday. — Bernama