Chinese tourists to Malaysia for Jan-Jul up

The number of Chinese tourists that came to Malaysia for the first seven months of the year soared 57 percent year on year, largely thanks to the simplified online visa scheme introduced in April, the Immigrations Department said. Chinese tourist arrivals from January to July increased to 833, 008, from 529,554 in the same period last year. Immigration Department Director General, Alias Ahmad told local Nanyang daily the improved online visa scheme enforced in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Kunming contributed to the rising figure as it conveniently shortened application process for Chinese tourists -- from three days previously to one day. The scheme, also extended to India, allows tourists to apply visas online through agents registered with the Malaysian Immigration department. The scheme was introduced after Malaysia revoked the visa-on- arrival facility that allowed tourists to apply for visas upon arrival for both countries. Alias said the new scheme helped hike the number of visa applications, which surged significantly between 40 and 60 percent on average every month, he told local daily Nanyang. The Tourism Ministry targeted 25 million tourists visiting the country this year, an increase from the 24 million achieved last year.