Malaysian e-visa ‘attracting’ more Chinese tourists

Malaysia saw its e-visa scheme popular among Chinese tourists, attracting more than half of Chinese nationals to the country compared to 2015.

“The 84.7% increase in visa application proves that government efforts to introduce e-visa schemes has attracted more Chinese tourists to Malaysia”, said Datuk Seri Moha­med Nazri Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture.

He also plans to open e-visa applications to India, and other countries that request for it, Utusan Online reports. Chinese tourists can apply for visas online from March 1 to December 31, and print e-visas on their own.

There are only 38 countries that don’t need visas to enter the country, and Singaporeans frequent it the most, he said.

Elsewhere, Indonesia will launch a digital platform to double tourist numbers by 2019. The website will pool tourist offerings across the country, allowing visitors to browse and book travel packages through a single platform. Image by John Ragai, licensed under CC BY 2.0