Showing posts with label tourism. Show all posts

Saturday, July 13, 2024

This is Why China is SO Powerful (Not What You Think); Rise of the red rovers

How did China become so powerful in just one generation? Some attribute it to adopting a capitalist system, but this isn't the whole story. Others credit China's success to its large population, but India, with a comparable population, didn't achieve similar growth. So what makes China so powerful? Well, this is exactly what we’re going to discover in today’s video...

Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:03 Socialism with Chinese Characteristics 4:07 Visionary of a New China 6:53 China Focuses on Trade and Economy 9:13 Conclusion #chinaeconomy #chinapowerful #chinasuperpower #riseofchina #whychina #chinadevelopment

Rise of the red rovers

Warmest welcome: Manoharan (right) presenting souvenirs to passengers of Qingdao Airlines flight QW9893 at the Qingdao Airlines inaugural flight celebration ceremony. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: There has been a surge in the number of Chinese travellers coming to Malaysia following the increase of red-eye flights here from their home country, according to Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).

Red-eye flights are rising in popularity, with officials reporting a 28% increase of such flights arriving at KL International Airport (KLIA) during the first half of the year compared with the same period last year, with flights from China accounting for 74% of them.

A red-eye flight refers to a flight that departs at night and arrives the next morning.

ALSO READ: Six extra direct flights between Penang and China soon

This increase in nighttime flights is expected to help Malaysia hit its target number of tourists, including five million Chinese visitors.

The 28% increase in flights in the first half of the year translates to an additional 313 flights per month.

“A significant portion of this increase is attributed to flights to and from China, which accounted for 232 extra flights or 74% of the total growth in red-eye flights,” MAHB said.

“The YoY performance for China-specific red-eye flights shows a remarkable increase of 168%, with the number of flights skyrocketing from 138 to 370 per month.

ALSO READ: More Indian tourists flocking to Malaysia after visa waiver

“KLIA also experienced a +20% YoY increase in red-eye departures, with flights to China making up 61% of the additional 171 monthly flights,” it told The Star.

Red-eye flights, characterised by departures after 9pm and arrivals before 5am the following morning, have become pivotal in meeting rising passenger demand and strengthening the airport’s operational capabilities.

MAHB said the considerable increase in red-eye flights, particularly those linked to China, highlights the growing intercontinental travel demand and “reinforces KLIA’s status as a key aviation hub in the region”.

In response to the increasing number of Chinese passengers, KLIA has boosted its efforts to enhance the passenger experience by increasing the number of Mandarin-speaking Airport CARE Ambassadors.

“Currently, KLIA employs 36 Mandarin-speaking ambassadors with nine on duty per shift, a significant improvement from the pre-pandemic period when only four Mandarin-speaking ambassadors were available per shift.

“Our Airport CARE Ambassador team now operates at full capacity 24/7, with a robust force of 280 ambassadors, including Mandarin speakers,” MAHB added.

It said plans are under way to install an additional 10 autogates from the current 10 to improve passenger flow and reduce wait times.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Manoharan Periasamy said red-eye flights have become popular because they allow travellers to have more time at their destination.

The visa-free agreements that Malaysia signed with China and India have made weekend travel more convenient as well, he added.

Manoharan said Tourism Malaysia plans to increase the number of officers at its information desk at the airport to cater to the increase in the number of foreign visitors.

“At least two staff members who can speak English and Mandarin will be at the helpdesk.”

Short-haul flights are those less than three hours in duration, while flights lasting between three and six hours are considered medium-haul flights.

Manoharan said Tourism Malaysia will focus on short-haul and medium-haul countries.

Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association president Mint Leong said red-eye flights are crucial in attracting more Chinese tourists and believes this will significantly contribute to achieving the goal of attracting five million Chinese tourists to Malaysia this year.

“Over 70% of tourists prefer ‘flexible independent travel’ and are likely to choose midnight flights.

“This allows them to save on travel time without needing to take (extra) leave from work and they save on hotel costs,” she said.

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Thursday, May 2, 2024

M'sia to see more Chinese tourists during golden week, ‘Golden’ opportunity for Penang

The Labour Day golden week, which runs from May first to fifth, is one of three major holidays in China, after the Chinese New Year and National Day celebrations. Tourism Malaysia is expecting a 30% increase in tourists compared with 2023 during the period

M'sia to see more Chinese tourists during golden week

International Labor Day: China's Travel Holiday

Breath of fresh air: Chinese nationals with a tour guide making the best out of Labour Day holiday to visit Penang Hill. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: This is the “Golden Week” in China – a time for Chinese nationals to take a much-needed break, its beginning coinciding with International Workers’ Day.

And many of them are doing just that in Penang.Making up a large number among international tourists in Penang, they thronged tourist attractions such as Penang Hill.

Project manager Jerry Chen, 42, from Suzhou, said his colleagues are spending three days in Penang to celebrate their break from work.“Visiting Malaysia is now visa-free, so we took advantage of it.

“We had visited Malaysia in the past, but never to Penang so this is an eye-opening trip for us.

“The food, especially, is our favourite,” he said yesterday.Another tourist from Beijing, engineer Ming Xingshi, 32, and his wife Li Jiumei, 30, decided to leave work for a week.“Since there is a day off in the middle of the week, we decided to take the whole week and travel.“This is my third time in Malaysia and we are familiar with most of the food and culture here.“This time, we are putting up at a homestay nearby,” said Ming.Another group from Taiwan, comprising retirees, is spending 10 days in Malaysia and are caught up in the Labour Day crowd.

Their tour leader Sylvia Chen said the group is more into visiting places of historical significance.“The group of 16 was in Singapore and Melaka prior to coming to Penang.

“They are taking their itinerary at a slower pace and the crowd on Labour Day added to their excitement.

“So far, the food and culture in Penang is suitable for them and they are blending in well,” said Chen.

Apart from tourists from various countries, many locals also took the opportunity to spend the Labour Day in various places, including shopping malls and eateries.

Long queues were seen at famous eateries in George Town.There was a large crowd visiting attractions such as street murals, heritage clan houses and private attractions within the heritage enclave, with heavy traffic at busy roads coming to a crawl.

It was reported that Penang recorded a 370% increase in tourists from China within the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year.

State tourism and creative economy committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said this is thanks to the visa-free policy and direct flights between Penang and China.

He said between January and March this year, Penang International Airport has received 22,420 visitors from China, compared with 4,768 arrivals in the same period last year.Wong said that these are only those who arrived via direct flights from China, while those who came via other means, such as through domestic flights from other states, were not factored in.

Travellers from Indonesia and Singapore, which stood as the highest number of arrivals, recorded an increase of 30.44% and 74.33% this year. This translated to an increase from 75,141 to 98,012 for Indonesia and from 22,310 to 38,890 for Singapore.

There are now 21 direct flights between Penang and China on a weekly schedule, with four more flights to be added at the end of May.

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Varsities rising up in rank | The Star

VARSITIES RISING UP IN RANK - USM News Portal

Thursday, August 31, 2023

How China’s slowdown may spill over to Malaysia

China’s slowdown is a key risk for the world economy, commodities and energy markets as well as the semiconductor industry. — Bloomberg

CHINA’S stuttering economic recovery post-Covid-19 pandemic reopening has stirred concerns that a protracted deep economic slowdown will have global repercussions, given its interconnectedness with each and every economy in this globalised world and transmission to both emerging and developed countries through different channels.

A slowing China economy is a bane for the world economy. While the global economy continues to gradually recover in 2023, the growth remains weak and low by historical standards, and the balance of risk remains tilted to the downside. It is not out of the woods yet.

Global manufacturing and services activities are losing momentum. Global trade, especially exports, remain in the doldrums, weighed down by weak consumer and business spending amid a continued inventory adjustment in the semiconductor sector.

Prices of commodities and energy have also softened. Global monetary tightening has started to weigh down on activity, credit demand, households and firms’ financial burden, putting pressure on the real estate market.

A slew of disappointing economic data for two consecutive months (June and July) from China indicated that the world’s second-largest economy (17.8% of the world’s gross domestic product or GDP) is indeed losing steam.

Falling exports, weak consumer spending, slowing growth in fixed investment and continued concerns about the property sector have dampened the recovery.

The emergence of deflation concerns adds to the complexity of China’s flagging recovery.

The Chinese government has provided a range of strategic measures aimed at targeting specific sectors.

These range from consumption (spending on new energy vehicles, home appliances, electronics, catering and tourism) to the property sector (reducing down-payment ratios for first-time homebuyers, lowering mortgage rates and easing purchase restrictions for buying a second house) and tax relief measures to support small businesses, tech startups and rural households.

China’s slowdown is a key risk for the world economy, commodities and energy markets as well as the semiconductor industry.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, China was the world’s most important source of international travellers, accounting for 20% of total spending in international tourism (US$255bil overseas and making 166 million overseas trips in 2019).

We consider three channels through which China’s slowdown can have spillover effects on Malaysia via direct and indirect transmissions: trade and commodity prices, services and financial markets.

Overall, the estimated impact of a 1% decline in China’s GDP growth could impact about 0.5% points on Malaysia’s economic growth.

Trade is the most important channel as China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009, with a total trade share of 16.8% (exports share: 13.1%; imports share: 21.2%) in the first half of 2023 (1H23).

Spillovers from slower China demand and commodity prices are negative for Malaysia, a net commodity exporter.

After recording seven successive years of increases in exports to China since 2017, Malaysia’s exports to China declined by 8.8% in 1H23.

In sectors such as tourism, China’s tourists are one of the major foreign tourists in Malaysia. In the first five months of 2023, Chinese tourists totalled 403,121 persons or 5.4% of total international tourists in Malaysia, and was only 12.9% of 3.1 million persons in 2019.

According to the Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association, though the number of Chinese tour groups coming to Malaysia has increased in July and August to between 800 and 1,000 for the summer vacation, the number of tourists per group is smaller between 10 and 20 persons.

While direct financial links between China and Malaysia are limited, there will be indirect spillovers through spikes in global financial volatility as investors worry that China’s deep economic slowdown would temper global growth, and also has spillovers to the US economy.

Will China foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Malaysia slow?

Capital movements will be influenced by the inter-linking of factors such as economic growth and investment prospects in the host country (Malaysia).

These include stable political conditions and good economic and financial management as well as conducive investment policies.

The US-China trade war and rising trends of geoeconomic fragmentation have witnessed FDI flows among geopolitically aligned economies that are closer geographically as well as geopolitical preferences.

Throughout the period 2015-2022, China’s gross FDI inflows into Malaysia averaged RM7.5bil per year. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s economic slowdown did not deter the inflows of FDI into Malaysia (RM7.8bil in 2020; RM8.1bil in 2021; and RM9.8bil in 2022).

In 1H23, China’s gross FDI inflows increased by 25.2% to RM2.1bil though it is likely that the full-year FDI will be below the average FDI inflows of RM8.6bil per year in 2020 to 2022.

China was the largest foreign investor in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector in 2016 to 2022 before dropping to second position in 2022 and the fourth position in 2021.

There was a contrasting picture when it comes to China’s approved investment in the manufacturing sector, which saw two consecutive years of decline (2022: 42.5% to RM9.6bil and 2021: 6.5% to RM16.6bil) and declining further by 17.8% to RM4.3bil in the first quarter of 2023.

We believe that Malaysia will remain one of the preferred investment destinations to China, given both countries’ strong established friendship and bilateral ties in trade and investment as well as people-to-people movements.

Malaysia needs to enhance its investment climate with progressive policies to rival regional peers to offer the country as a China Plus One destination for China and foreign companies.

Malaysia can offer investments to build a chip-testing and packaging factory, advanced manufacturing technologies such as robotics and automation, manufacturing electric vehicle supply chain, petrochemicals, renewable energy, agriculture and food processing.

China can offer the technology, innovation and technical know-how as well as talent that deepen the country’s industry integration with global supply chains and also links Malaysia and China to South-East Asia.

China can invest in Malaysian manufacturing companies to help them adopt advanced manufacturing technologies and further improve their competitiveness.

The RM170bil prospective investments (comprising RM69.7bil from 19 memoranda of understanding and RM100.3bil from the round-table meeting) concluded during the prime minister’s visit to China are set to provide a massive investment boost to our economy for years to come.

Among these are China’s Rongsheng Petrochemical Holdings, which will invest RM80bil to build a petrochemical park in Pengerang, Johor; and investment from Geely, with an initial investment of RM2bil in the Tanjung Malim Automotive Valley, which will gradually increase to RM23bil in the future.

LEE HENG GUIE is Socio-Economic Research Centre executive director. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.

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INTERACTIVE: Journey to Merdeka

Sunday, July 2, 2023

KLIA, a corruption gateway?

-NSTP file pic, for illustration purpose only.

'Entry fee' claim sparks probe

MACC to probe Tiong's allegation of corruption at KLIA

MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki responds to a claim by tourism, arts and culture minister Tiong King Sing of alleged corruption involving ...

If Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing is right, something is very rotten with the Immigration officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Tiong said he was there to attend to a complaint lodged by a Chinese tourist that some Immigration officers were allegedly demanding money to either free tourists from detention or to get them through a special lane into Malaysia.

It is not clear if the Chinese tourist was asked to pay any money, but she is said to have been fed only once in the 15 hours she was detained. If this is true, it is an abuse of power that must not be tolerated. Even a prisoner gets fed at regular intervals.

These are tourists who will take these unpleasant stories home to be told and retold about Malaysia, which is "cruel" to foreigners.

Somewhere in the ugly narratives will be lodged the tale of Malaysia being a land where money can buy almost anything. And it starts at Malaysia's main gateway, the KLIA.

Here is the scale of graft fees, not printed in any permanent form, of course, but to be passed from one tourist to another. An oral tradition of sorts to keep the greedy officers fed. Anything from up to RM3,000 to RM15,000.

If a tourist wants to get out of detention, the "fee" is up to RM3,000. If a speedy passage is needed, the tourist needs to cough up RM15,000, RM3,000 for a "special lane" and RM12,000 for visa-processing costs.

It appears that Tiong was armed for the surprise visit. He brought along his team of integrity officers, whose purpose is not clear. He may have done better by going there with the director-general of the Immigration Department.

A slip he may regret, now that he is being accused of demanding the release of the Chinese tourist, an accusation he is denying vehemently. This is a developing story, of which the nation will hear more.

Be that as it may, corruption among some Immigration officers is regularly featured in the media. Occasionally, Parliament gets to hear about the misconducts or crimes committed by Immigration officers at the gateways to Malaysia.

On June 21, the Dewan Negara, the upper house of Parliament, was told that 136 Immigration officers were found guilty between 2020 and last year: 112 cases were for misconduct and 24 were for convictions by court.

Not a number to be proudly paraded given that it is just to do with the processing of foreigners' entry into the country. Add them all, and it will be a national embarrassment.

How these wayward officers manage to get appointed, or worse, stay in service until they are caught is a question the D-G of the Immigration Department must answer.

The chief secretary to the government may have to revisit the selection, retention and reward systems of public offices to weed out the corrupt and corruptible.

There should be no place for them in public service, not just the Immigration Department.

Tiong has a colourful phrase for the "forever" malaise at the Immigration Department: culture of corruption. Expect this phrase to have a prominent place in the report that Tiong has promised to submit to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

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Saturday, July 13, 2024

Rise of the red rovers

Thursday, May 2, 2024

M'sia to see more Chinese tourists during golden week

International Labor Day: China's Travel Holiday

Events being held to boost M'sia-China ties

Varsities rising up in rank | The Star

VARSITIES RISING UP IN RANK - USM News Portal

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Sunday, July 2, 2023

MACC to investigate corruption allegations, says Azam Baki

MACC to probe alleged corrupt practices of immigration ...

'Solve visa issues to attract students here' | The Star