Tiong confident of Chinese, Indian tourists influx in 2024 with 30-day visa waiver

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 4 — Tourist arrivals from China and India to Malaysia are expected surge in 2024 following the government’s 30-day visa waiver effective Dec 1, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.

Tiong said it was a good move for the hotel and tourism industry players, who have been informed to be prepared to receive higher numbers of arrivals, which will directly boost their revenue.   

“We hope this visa exemption will result in several million (foreign) more tourists. We will do our best to further promote (Malaysia) in their respective countries (China and India), to increase the number of tourists,” he said. 

Tiong was speaking at a press conference after chairing the first organisational meeting for World Tourism Day 2025 and World Tourism Conference 2025, here today.  

Immigration data from Jan 1 to Nov 15 this year, recorded 26 million foreign arrivals in Malaysia, with 1.47 million of them from China and 780,532 from India. 

On Nov 26, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the 30-day visa exemption for travellers from China and India in the spirit of strategic bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and China, spanning 50 years in 2024. 

The visa-free facility has also been extended to Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq, and Iran as well as all West Asia countries including Turkiye and Jordan.