Tourism Malaysia eyes Chinese inbound tourists with Mafengwo tie-up

Tourism Malaysia has partnered with Mafengwo,?a Chinese travel and leisure information platform, to promote the country and target the Chinese inbound tourist market. According to?Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board deputy director International Promotion Division (Asia/Africa) Chan Hon Mun, there is a chance for Malaysia to increase its share of the China market from 2.94 million tourist arrivals to its target of 3.48 million next year via Mafengwo's digital platform, reported the?New Straits Times.

In 2018, Malaysia received a total of 2.94 million Chinese tourists, who contributed RM12.3 billion to the nation's economy, Chan said. He added that Mafengwo allows for the development of "an open digital ecosystem", which enables companies in the tourism industry to put in place digital technologies to boost tourism offerings and improve tourist experiences.

Mafengwo's senior VP Yu Zhuo said it is aims to help tourism players in Malaysia create "a richer online content" for Chinese tourists to create localised marketing strategies within the country. She explained that Malaysia was a popular tourist destination and that the company has created "a relatively complete profile and structured set of information" on the country,?NST reported.

(Read also: Tourism Malaysia unveils new Visit Malaysia 2020 logo inspired by batik)

Meanwhile, Malaysian advertising platform Adfinity Media also tied up with Mafengwo to raise tourism promotion to Malaysia. According to Bernama, Adfinity Media will be the only local advertising platform for Malaysian companies that wish to advertise on Mafengwo's portal or app. Through Mafengwo's digital ecosystem, Malaysian businesses can engage with Chinese consumers via precision marketing methods such as digital content production, Bernama added.

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