By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Dec 19: One of China’s top 20 tourism operator groups, GZL International Travel Service plans to expand its outbound routes to Sarawak in 2025.
Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, welcomed the collaboration, emphasising that Malaysia stands out as one of Southeast Asia’s fastest recovering tourism destinations thanks to its visa-free entry, safety, natural beauty, and cultural richness.
“As a result, more tourists from China’s Guangdong are choosing Malaysia as their top travel destination,” he said in a post shared on his social media yesterday following a meeting with GZL in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (Dec 18).
During the meeting, GZL expressed its commitment to creating immersive travel for Guangdong tourists, citing Malaysia’s cuisine and culture as key attractions.
Tiong highlighted that GZL’s durian-themed product launch earlier this year achieved a 100 per cent take-up rate, underscoring the strong demand for Malaysia’s premium durians in the Chinese market.
“This presents exciting opportunities for the promotion of Malaysia’s tourism and cultural products. As 2025 approaches, the Ministry is encouraged to actively develop unique products and itineraries that appeal to Guangdong tourists,” he said.
The Ministry aims to organise more familiarisation trips and invite influencers to experience Malaysia firsthand, crafting tourism packages tailored to modern travellers.
Tiong suggested expanding durian tours beyond Musang King to include Penang’s Black Thorn, while culinary tours could highlight iconic dishes such as charcoal-fired Hokkien mee in Kuala Lumpur or authentic bak kut teh in Klang.
In the meeting, both parties agreed to deepen collaboration in the future, with a focus on leveraging new media strategies to repackage Malaysia’s tourism, cultural, and culinary offerings.
“We share the goal of developing deeper, more experiential travel packages that cater to modern travellers’ desire and ‘Instagrammable’ experiences.
“By combining the strengths of Malaysia and China, and deepening cooperation, we are confident Malaysia will attract more visitors from Guangdong, ushering in a new era of tourism growth, Tiong added.
GZL, part of the Lingnan Group, operates 1,200 hotels, 35 malls and department stores, as well as 500 retail chain outlets. Its core businesses include domestic tourism, inbound tourism, outbound tourism, MICE services, travel vehicles, airline ticketing, and scenic spot operations, with an annual outbound tourism volume of up to one million travellers. —DayakDaily
