Malaysia has become the most popular destination for tourists from China, having recorded the highest number of tourist arrivals from the republic, said Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik.
He said tourist arrivals from China showed an increase of 20 to 30 per cent, fending off allegations that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia had dwindled.
"There is a sharp increase of tourists from China, with statistics showing the number of their arrivals up to September this year is as much as the total number of Chinese tourists who visited Malaysia last year.
"In 2017, a total of 2.2 million Chinese tourists visited Malaysia last year, and for this year, up to October, the number has reached 2.5 million and we expect the number to reach three million as targeted this year," he told reporters at the Boria fun ride flag-off ceremony, held in conjunction with the 2018 Boria Festival, here, Saturday.
Hence, he said, the claim by certain quarters that Chinese nationals were avoiding Malaysia was not true.
"They are mistaken when they said Chinese tourists are avoiding Malaysia since Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the Government's administration. The statistics showed otherwise," he added.
Muhammad Bakhtiar, who is also the Balik Pulau MP, said China topped the list with the highest number of tourist arrivals in Malaysia, followed by tourists from Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei.
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