During Chinese New Year, I was with my
wife in Melbourne for few days. What amazed me was the overwhelming numbers of
tourists from Mainland China. I was told this was a normal year-round
business, not just the Chinese New Year phenomenon. I must congratulate
the Australian Government, as well as its private sector, whom had done the
right approach touching the heart of Mainland Chinese.
Sitting on the free city circle tram, tourists
were greeted with songs and greetings of Chinese New Year in mandarin. Most
of the shopping centers welcomed visitors with lion dances and God of
Fortune. The local tourism board provided Chinese language
signage at all lookouts along the scenic Great Ocean Road. There were
even free Mandarin speaking guides at the 12 Apostles every 45 minutes
daily. Apart from the free services offered by the government, there was
no shortage of private Mandarin speaking tours at a cost.
We spent a night in a small motel in
Apollo Bay. 95% of the guests were from Mainland China. The receptionist
told me that she observed an increasing number of Mainland Chinese
tourists. She carefully advised her Chinese guests where to fine Chinese
food or to enjoy local fare. There was even a traditional red banner
(chun lian 春联) with
Chinese New Year greetings of prosperity and good fortune at the local eateries.
When I asked some of the Chinese
tourists why they chose Australia as a tourist destination, the usual answers
were its beautiful blue sea, pristine white sandy beaches, varieties of shopping,
safety and the vibrant multicultural environment. In short, they felt
that it was value for money travelling in Australia. It was also helpful
with the mandarin signage as hey didn't feel lost in a foreign land. The
Australian government had even designed its business visa for Mainland Chinese
as "88 visa" or "888 visa" since EIGHT was a prosperous
number in Chinese culture. These simple measures had touched the heart of
Mainland Chinese and made them feel welcome in Australia. There were no
expensive gimmicks, high profile promotions, nor hosting of extravagant
festivals. The tourists may have enjoyed the sights and the spectacles
but they were often unable to be connected with the events unfolding before
them.
Malaysia hopes to reach the target of 10
million Mainland Chinese tourists. Currently, we are receiving about 1.5
million. The Mainland Chinese are known to be high spenders. If not
mistaken, every Chinese tourist spends average RM3,500 per trip. If
we have 10 million of Mainland Chinese tourists, we are boosting our economy
with RM35 billion. The Ministry of Tourism should seriously look into
these simple measures that makes Mainland Chinese tourists feel at home.
"Malaysia, truly Asia" is a
beautiful slogan but it has no relevance to the Mainland Chinese. What
Australia has to offer, Malaysia could offer in abundance and more especially
in Sabah. It is HOW we market our tourism products to the targeted
Mainland Chinese tourists.
农历猴年期间，我和太太前往墨尔本住了四天。让我吃惊的是这里涌现了大批的中国大陆游客。我得知这种情况不只是发生在农历新年，实际上澳洲各地长年都可看到大量的大陆游客。我必须对澳洲政府和当地的私人界致于敬意，因为他们只是采取简单的方法，可是却已足以赢得大陆游客的“芳心”。
坐在免费环城电车里，耳边传来的是中文的农历新年祝贺语和新年歌。大多数的购物中心也安排了舞狮和财神爷来迎接客人。当地的旅游观光局不仅在旅游景区－大洋路的每个景点设有中文告示牌，还特别在“十二门徒提石灰岩”景区，提供免费中文导游每45分钟讲解服务。除了有关当局的免费导游服务， 景区里也不乏懂得需付费的中文导游，向游客讲解和介绍澳洲的风土人情。
我们沿途在阿波罗湾的一间旅舍过一个晚上。旅舍里95%住客是大陆的游客。柜台接待员告诉我，到访的中国大陆游客是与日俱增。接待员也会主动告知每个住客何处有中餐和当地美食。即使在小小的餐馆，也都贴上充满喜气春意的春联同庆新年。
当我问大陆游客为什么选择到澳洲旅游，他们的回答不外是澳洲有美丽的海景沙滩、购物中心、安全及多姿多彩的多元文化环境。换言之他们认为到澳洲旅游不但物有所值，况且举目可见的中文告示牌，让他们在异国不会迷路及感到无助。澳洲政府甚至投其所好，将大陆来澳的商业签证标志为“88” 或“888”签证，因为“8”的中文谐音是“发”，是好兆头。就只这简单的措施，已让大陆客倍感亲切，宾至如归啊！其实我们不需要昂贵的促销手法，也无需高格调的旅游促销，更不必举办挥霍的节日庆典。游客们可能对这些感到赏心悦目，但往往这些节目是无法让他们有内心的触动。
马来西亚希望能吸引1千万大陆游客到访，唯目前只有150万来马马观光。大陆游客都是高消费的群体，如果我没记错，每名中国游客每趟旅程的消费平均是3千500令吉。试想如果我国接待1千万中国游客，那是等同在经济领域注入350亿令吉。旅游部或许应该探讨这些简单，但却能真正触动大陆游客内心深处的措施。“马来西亚-亚洲魅力所在”的口号很漂亮，但这和大陆游客扯不上关系也难以引起共鸣。澳洲能提供的，其实我们能做的更多更好，只在于我们如何去推动旅游产品，以开拓庞大的中国大陆游客市场。
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