Melaka will re-strategise its tourism marketing plan by focusing on Southeast Asian countries particularly Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei following the novel coronavirus outbreak in China.
State Tourism, Heritage and Culture Committee chairman Datuk Muhammad Jailani Khamis said as Chinese tourists account for the biggest number of visitors to Melaka, dependence on tourist arrival from the country would need to be relooked.
He said the last-minute cancellations by Chinese tourists affected hotel bookings and sale of entry tickets to tourist destinations in the state.
"The coronavirus threat has indeed affected the tourism sector in Melaka as most of the reported cases are in China and have been detected in other countries," he told reporters here today.
According to Melaka Tourism Promotion Division, from January to September last year. the most number of tourists who visited the state were from China with two million arrivals or 40.22 percent; followed by Singapore with 718,000 or 17 percent; and Indonesia 417,000 or 10 percent tourist arrivals.
-- BERNAMA
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