In pursuit of increased tourist arrivals and subsequent economic growth, Malaysia now become the fourth country to announce visa-free entry. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that Malaysia will grant visa-free entry to tourists from India and China who are coming for stays of up to 30 days. This move will be effective starting December 1, as reported by news agency Reuters. For the Indian and Chinese nationals who wish to visit Malaysia prior to December 1, the process for applying for visas will still stand.
The Malaysian Prime Minister made this announcement on Sunday during a speech at his People's Justice Party congress. However, till what date would this visa exemption be applicable hasn't been specified yet. China and India are Malaysia's fourth and fifth-largest source markets respectively.
A Reuters report while citing government data read that Malaysia recorded 9.16 million tourist arrivals between January and June 2023. Out of the 9.16 million tourists, 498,540 came from China and 283,885 came from India. In the pre-pandemic era, 1.5 million arrivals were recorded from China and 354,486 were recorded from India in 2019.
Notably, this development of Malaysia falls along similar lines to what Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam did. In order to boost its tourism sector and stimulate the slow-ish economy, these nations implemented similar measures, as reported by Reuters.
According to a report of India Today, Vietnam's Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Nguyn Van Jung, recently advocated for short-term visa waivers for countries that boost their tourism economy majorly i.e, China and India. It was done in order to aid the recovery of the country's tourism sector.
Thailand's government launched a six-month period of visa-free entry for Indian and Taiwanese nationals.
Sri Lanka also approved a proposal for free visas to travellers from seven countries, including India and China. Sri Lanka anticipates a rise to five million tourist arrivals in the coming years, as reported by India Today.