PETALING JAYA: About 5,000 tour groups from China comprising more than 100,000 tourists visited Malaysia during Chinese New Year, as Malaysia has become one of the top five travel destinations for Chinese nationals after both countries implemented visa exemption last December.

Paul Paw, the president of Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association, said with the high number of tourists from China, Malaysia is expected to rake in tourist revenue between RM1 billion to RM1.5 billion during Chinese New Year.

In an interview with Sin Chew Daily, Paw said the number of tourists from China increased by 50% this year during Chinese New Year, while the annual increase is estimated to be between 200% and 300% due to more chartered flights and new flight routes such as Penang to Xiamen and Kota Kinabalu to Beijing.

Paw said tour groups from China started to fly into Malaysia five days before Chinese New Year.

Tour guides were working through the festive season without taking break due to the high number of tour groups.

“Tour groups from China can be found at shopping malls, restaurants and food courts,” he said.

Paw said tourists from China favored Penang and Ipoh in northern Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur, Genting and Melaka in the central region; and Johor Bahru in the south.

This also included East Malaysia where the beaches, diving sites and the rainforest were popular among tourists from China.