KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — Malaysia is committed to strengthening cooperation with Tuniu, one of China’s leading online travel agencies, to ensure the country remains a top destination of choice for tourists from the republic, says Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
He said the matter was discussed during his meeting with the Tuniu management in conjunction with his recent working visit to Shanghai, China.
Tiong said the main objective of the discussion was to ensure that more visitors from China choose Malaysia in planning their travels, given the vast outbound tourism market from the country.
According to him, Tuniu acknowledged that Malaysia possesses all the qualities sought by tourists, including natural beauty, unique culture, diverse food offerings and appealing day-to-day experiences.
“At the same time, they were also candid in admitting that many visitors in China are still not deeply familiar with Malaysia, hence consistent and improved exposure is very important,” he said in a Facebook post.
Tiong said throughout last year, Tourism Malaysia and Tuniu carried out various forms of collaboration, including familiarisation trips with influencers, live-streaming sessions and online content campaigns, all of which received highly encouraging responses.
Commenting on future strategies, he said the focus was now shifting towards strengthening content-driven marketing efforts.
“Rather than relying on brochures and conventional advertisements, live-streaming sessions with influencers, on-location filming, short videos and themed campaigns showcasing authentic Malaysian experiences to audiences in China will be utilised,” he said.
In addition, he said the uniqueness of local dishes and cuisine had also been identified as a major attraction, as Tuniu viewed food as often being the factor that sparked interest and encouraged visitors to make travel bookings.
“There is great potential for Malaysia to tell its food story more effectively through live cooking streams, special segments and food-themed promotions in cities across China so that more people begin to think, ‘I need to go to Malaysia to experience this for myself’,” he said.
He added that discussions also touched on efforts to simplify bookings through the Tuniu platform, including strengthening Malaysia’s dedicated section on the portal as well as offering special packages combining flights with specially curated tourism products.
In this regard, Tiong said Tourism Malaysia had been urged to continue working closely with Tuniu to translate those ideas into more concrete programmes so that more visitors in China could appreciate the diversity, hospitality and appeal of everyday life in Malaysia.
