KOTA KINABALU: Sabah can still do better to attract more tourists from China, a country already considered one of the most important markets for the Sabah tourism sector, said Wang Jinzhen, the vice chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCIPT).
One simple way of boosting Chinese tourist arrivals to the State, he said, is by having hotels here provide television channels that cater to travellers from that country apart from more aggressive promotional campaigns in major cities in China.
“I found that there is no Chinese TV channel at all (at most hotels in Sabah), even though the CCTV 4 and Channel 9 (from China) are available globally.
“A lot of Chinese people do not speak English, but at the same time they are very concerned and want to follow the current events back at home while travelling. So, this could be a simple thing but a huge plus for Sabah to have.
“If you can have for instance the CCTV 4 at all of your hotels, I’m sure a lot more of the Chinese tourists will come in,” he suggested.
Speaking at the Sabah-China Trade and Investment Forum here yesterday, Wang said Sabah, being a wonderful holiday destination, could also develop greater business collaboration with China in tourism.
He pointed out that close to 10 per cent of the over 1.3 billion Chinese travel overseas every year and only a very small number from them chose Sabah as their holiday destination.
“Sabah is a beautiful place, I personally think tourism is an industry with great potential for cooperation… With your ongoing promotional efforts, and more collaboration (with China) in future, it is likely that we can increase the figure (visitors from China to Sabah),” he said.
He noted that the World Travel Organisation has projected that about 100 million Chinese will travel overseas annually by 2015, and currently only about one million Chinese visit Malaysia per year.
Out of this figure, he added, less than 10 per cent come to Sabah.
“I am not sure how accurate this figure is but it clearly demonstrates that the number of the Chinese coming to Sabah is not that many.
One simple way of boosting Chinese tourist arrivals to the State, he said, is by having hotels here provide television channels that cater to travellers from that country apart from more aggressive promotional campaigns in major cities in China.
“I found that there is no Chinese TV channel at all (at most hotels in Sabah), even though the CCTV 4 and Channel 9 (from China) are available globally.
“A lot of Chinese people do not speak English, but at the same time they are very concerned and want to follow the current events back at home while travelling. So, this could be a simple thing but a huge plus for Sabah to have.
“If you can have for instance the CCTV 4 at all of your hotels, I’m sure a lot more of the Chinese tourists will come in,” he suggested.
Speaking at the Sabah-China Trade and Investment Forum here yesterday, Wang said Sabah, being a wonderful holiday destination, could also develop greater business collaboration with China in tourism.
He pointed out that close to 10 per cent of the over 1.3 billion Chinese travel overseas every year and only a very small number from them chose Sabah as their holiday destination.
“Sabah is a beautiful place, I personally think tourism is an industry with great potential for cooperation… With your ongoing promotional efforts, and more collaboration (with China) in future, it is likely that we can increase the figure (visitors from China to Sabah),” he said.
He noted that the World Travel Organisation has projected that about 100 million Chinese will travel overseas annually by 2015, and currently only about one million Chinese visit Malaysia per year.
Out of this figure, he added, less than 10 per cent come to Sabah.
“I am not sure how accurate this figure is but it clearly demonstrates that the number of the Chinese coming to Sabah is not that many.
Continue reading at: Tips on luring millions of China tourists to Sabah
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