KUCHING: Visa applications for tourists to enter to Sarawak come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri clarified this to the media after officiating at the opening ceremony of the 23rd Meeting of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Culture and the 11th Meeting of ASEAN Plus Three Cultural Cooperation at The Waterfront Hotel today.
“We have discussed this matter with the Ministry of Home Affairs. We’ve sent them a letter requesting for the visa applications for tourists to become more accessible so that more tourists will be able to visit Malaysia.”
Nancy added that the most number of tourists in Malaysia came from Singapore, followed by those from Thailand, Philippines and India.
Nancy added that the number of tourists from India was huge possibly because they required a single entry visa.
“For now, we have exceeded our expected tourist arrivals of 4.5 million. In September, we will need to review our figures, especially after Brunei opens its borders on August 1”
“We expect more tourists to come to Malaysia and they will exceed 8 million,” said Nancy.
Elaborating further, she said, “When more tourists come, they will also benefit the community by improving the economy as well as the tourism sector.”
Nancy also spoke about issues related to insufficient workers in the tourism industry.
“For places like Langkawi, we have locals who want to work and that is beneficial,” she said.
