Tiong: Tourism Will Stay Competitive With Visa-on-Arrival for All Countries

Allowing visa-on-arrival for all countries would help Malaysia's tourism industry to stay competitive.

This was expressed by Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing during his keynote address at the 2023 ASEAN Tourism Forum in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which ended yesterday, via a report by official government news agency Bernama on the same day.

Tiong believes that Malaysia should be aware of the trends in the tourism industry and provide initiatives such as visa-on-arrival to help in the recovery from the health crisis.

"It projects the wrong image for our country... By not preparing for and welcoming the return of a large influx of tourists to Malaysia," Tiong was quoted as saying.

He expressed his confidence in the authorities to handle high influx of passengers and maintain order at different entry points of the country.

He then urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to consider expanding the visa-on-arrival for all countries, emphasising on China and India, to "prevent us from losing our competitiveness within the region."

Tiong led the Malaysian delegation at the 2023 ASEAN Tourism Forum, accompanied by Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) Secretary General Dato' Saraya Arbi and Director General of Tourism Malaysia Dato' Zainuddin Abdul Wahab.

During the TRAVEX event, a travel fair that brings suppliers of ASEAN tourism products and buyers together, Malaysia presented a booth that championed the country’s many attractions.

"Malaysia tourism is well underway for recovery, as we managed to surpass the target of 9.2 million international arrivals in 2022," Tiong was quoted as saying via a press release yesterday by Tourism Malaysia, an agency under MOTAC.