In Shenyang, a charter flight from Kuala Lumpur was welcomed on the second day of the Lunar New Year. 286 Malaysian tourists landed at Shenyang Taoxian Airport as the first large inbound tour group received by the Spring and Autumn Tourism Shenyang Branch in the 2024 New Year.
At the same time, a large number of Chinese tourists traveled to "Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" visa-free countries during this Spring Festival holiday. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the airport, attractions, shopping malls, etc. have specially decorated the Year of the Dragon Spring Festival decorations. Chinese tourists can be seen everywhere in the main attractions. Chinese tourists and Malaysian tourists "exchange" to celebrate the New Year, which has become a sight in the "visa-free circle of friends" Spring Festival tourism market.
Malaysian tourists are keen on ice and snow New Year tours
In the winter of 2023, the popularity of ice and snow tourism is rising rapidly. After Harbin became popular, Shenyang Culture and Tourism quickly followed up. In the joyful atmosphere of "one family in Northeast China", it encouraged domestic and foreign tourists to come to the three northeastern provinces for travel.
With the arrival of the Spring Festival in the Year of the Dragon, Northeast ice and snow tourism has also ushered in a boom. In addition, China, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and other countries have successively implemented visa-free policies, which not only attracts citizen tourists to "go out" to experience multicultural customs, but also continues to attract overseas tourists to "come in" to experience the lively atmosphere of the Chinese Year of the Dragon Spring Festival. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, 286 Malaysian tourists took a charter flight to Shenyang to start their ice and snow trip.
Considering that 286 tourists arrived in Shenyang from warm Malaysia, and the lowest weather that day was minus 8 degrees, Shenyang Chunqiu prepared special handbags, thermos cups, baby warmers, hand-warming pillows and other New Year souvenirs for the tourists in advance. At the airport, in order to welcome Malaysian tourists from afar, the Shenyang reception party also held a traditional lion dance performance. Malaysian tourists immediately feel the joyful atmosphere of the Chinese New Year upon their first visit.
In order to ensure the quality of explanations and services, Shenyang Chunqiu specially organized targeted training for tour guides, including all information such as bilingual explanations, emergency response, safety reminders and reception guarantees, and required them to familiarize themselves with the routes and formulate emergency plans in advance. More than ten tour guides from Shenyang will participate in the reception work. During this trip, Malaysian tourists will experience Shenyang's "Internet celebrity" projects, such as watching the New Year's fireworks show; "catch the big market" in the North Market; and see what has been lent to " The "Phoenix Flying Sky" of "Erbin"...allows tourists to fully feel the strong flavor of the New Year in Shenyang and the enthusiasm of Shenyang people.
Looi, who traveled with the whole family, said that they live in tropical Malaysia and have no real experience of the ice and snow in the Northeast before. The reason why they decided to travel to Shenyang, China during the Spring Festival holiday is to let the children and the elderly experience different cultures. and traditions, and also experience the beauty of nature in different climate environments.
Visa-free outbound travel in Southeast Asia encourages overseas Chinese New Year celebrations
The expansion of the “visa-free circle of friends” has also boosted inbound and outbound travel during the Spring Festival holiday. While large Malaysian tourist groups come to China for ice and snow tours, a large number of Chinese tourists are also flocking to visa-free countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
On February 11, the charter flight of Spring and Autumn Travel was fully loaded with 286 tourists from Northeast China flying to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a special seven-day itinerary in Kuala Lumpur, Sabah, Semporna and other resort areas. The charter flight was fully booked, with a total of 8 tour groups and More than 30 independent Chinese tourists traveled to Malaysia. Ms. Zhou, who was traveling with her whole family, said excitedly: "We chose to travel to Malaysia during the Spring Festival this year because we want the children and the elderly to experience different cultures and atmospheres. I hope the whole family can have an unforgettable holiday and leave beautiful memories." .”
At the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, CBN reporters saw a large red Year of the Dragon device placed in a prominent position to welcome tourists from China. In many tourist attractions, Chinese tourists can be seen everywhere, most of whom are families traveling independently. Mr. Wu, a tourist from Sichuan, told China Business News that after many countries in Southeast Asia recently became visa-free, he immediately decided to travel to Malaysia with his family, not only because of the convenient procedures, but also because it is warmer here and can experience "off-season tourism" ".
China Business News reporter saw that in many large shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur, dragon-shaped decorations and Chinese celebration words were specially made for the Chinese Year of the Dragon Spring Festival, especially in the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur (commonly known as the "Twin Towers"). A specially designed area for the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon has been set up with peach blossom trees, cheongsam shops, Chinese movie theaters, Chinese grocery stores and Chinese restaurants for tourists to take photos and check in.
China Business News reporters found on Ctrip and other platforms that due to the large number of tourists during the Spring Festival, the recent reservations for the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur are fully booked, and tickets cannot be reserved until February 21 at the earliest.
In some local supermarkets in Kuala Lumpur, the reporter saw shelves specializing in Chinese New Year decorations. Many customers stopped in front of the counter to make their selections.
In addition to visiting tourist attractions and shopping in shopping malls, many Chinese tourists this year chose to have New Year’s Eve dinner in the visa-free “Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand”. During the Spring Festival, Haidilao in Singapore not only sells traditional fish sashimi, but also launches "spicy fish sashimi" that is a fusion of hot pot flavors. Some Haidilao stores in Singapore also offer sugar painting and dumpling-making services to showcase traditional Chinese Spring Festival delicacies. In-store staff also performed lion dances to bring "Chinese New Year flavor" to customers.
Ms. Zhao from Hunan Province, China, said: “It was the first time we came to Singapore and visited famous attractions. During the Chinese Spring Festival, we feel that eating hot pot is the most festive. Although we are in a foreign country, we still come back to eat hot pot during the Spring Festival. Home!”
Ctrip data shows that on the first day of the holiday, Chinese tourists’ outbound travel orders to "Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand" increased by more than 30% compared with the same period in 2019. Popular outbound travel destination countries are Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. On the "One Belt, One Road" route, orders from Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the Maldives have seen higher growth rates, all of which increased by more than 50% compared with 2019.
"Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" visa exemption has promoted inbound and outbound tourism to a new peak. The National Immigration Administration predicts that the average daily number of customs clearance at ports across the country during this year’s Spring Festival holiday will reach 1.8 million, an increase of approximately 3.3 times compared with last year’s Spring Festival, and equivalent to the inbound and outbound flow during the 2019 Spring Festival. Ctrip data shows that on the first day of the Spring Festival holiday, outbound travel orders and inbound travel orders increased significantly compared with 2019. Ctrip's overseas airport pick-up and drop-off service orders increased by more than 8 times compared with the same period in 2019.