No more ‘one-size-fits-all’: Tourism M’sia to revamp China strategy; eyes luxury, youth, edu travel

Mohd Amirul during one of the meetings.

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, May 30: Tourism Malaysia is reshaping its China strategy as it looks to tap into high-spending, younger, and education-focused travellers instead of relying on traditional group-tour sightseeing packages.

According to Tourism Malaysia, this followed several meetings with industry players during a working visit to Shanghai—Wisdom Tourism’s LeYou platform, luxury travel agency 8 Continents Travel, and social travel start-up Cuttlefish Travel.

During the meeting with LeYou Group, led by its president Li Yongsheng, it plans to put more emphasis on the silver-haired (elderly) market, family trips, and education travel, and is keen to understand how Malaysia can position itself more strongly in the education tourism space.

With 8 Continents Travel, headed by founder Zhou Jizhong, it focuses on luxury itineraries while running upmarket travel shows for premium agents across China.

“Zhou recalled that Malaysia was one of the first long-haul luxury destinations his company promoted, with Langkawi’s high-end resorts among the earliest products pushed to its affluent clientele,” said Tourism Malaysia.

As for Cuttlefish Travel, it uses interest-based communities and themed groups to attract younger free-and-easy travellers, with its users comprising mostly millennials and Gen Z travellers.

Tourism Malaysia director-general Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim said the meetings underlined how quickly the Chinese market is changing.

“Different age groups and segments in China are looking for very different things now. We can’t just keep selling the same old sightseeing packages.

“For Malaysia, the direction has to be ‘tourism plus X’—combining travel with specific interests, whether that’s food, education, wellness, adventure or culture, depending on the market we’re talking to,” he said.

He said Malaysia sees strong potential across several areas—from senior travellers and bespoke luxury holidays to younger independent travellers and family or education-focused trips.

Mohd Amirul added that Tourism Malaysia is open to joint campaigns with Chinese partners, including online pushes, KOL (Key Opinion Leader) tie-ups, short-video content, and themed promotions.

“Each of these platforms has its own edge. Some are very strong at the high end, some have a massive physical network, and others speak directly to young, independent travellers.

“Our goal is to work with them in ways that make sense for their audiences, so that Malaysia shows up more often – and more meaningfully – in front of different groups of Chinese consumers,” he said. — DayakDaily