BY EDWARD RAJENDRA

MORE Chinese tourists are making a beeline for Klang’s Little India drawn to its sights, sounds and most importantly, the great shopping.

The number of local and foreign tourists to Little India is on the increase. In 2015, there were 1.9 million tourists and last year, the visitors numbered 2.2 million with a majority of them comprising tourists from China.

Tourism and Culture Ministry, Selangor Office state director Arshad Mustapa said Chinese tourists are particularly keen on skincare products, hand-loomed textiles and electrical goods.

Arshad added that many Chinese tourists stay for up to week in Klang and are big spenders.

“Selangor in general is seeing a boom in Chinese tourists. More than 800,000 Chinese arrivals were recorded in 2016. The SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur this August is expected to attract even more of them,” he said.

The emerging middle-class in China is being wooed by all countries in the region because of their increased spending power.

Chinese tourists prefer Malaysia because of the simplified visa application process for short trips.

“Malaysia has extended the e-visa and electronic travel registration and information online facility for Chinese tourists on a 15-day visit minus the hassle,” he pointed out.

Arshad added that Selangor expected to see three million Chinese tourists and Klang’s Little India must capitalise on this with improved offerings.

Klang Municipal Council (MPK) president Datuk Mohamad Yasid Bidin said many of Little India’s hand-loomed textiles, decorative gold items and handicraft shops had refurbished their outlets because of the purchasing power of the Chinese.

“Other than the SEA Games, there is expected to be a surge in arrivals during China’s week-long national holiday in October,” he said.

Mohamad Yasid added that the council wanted to redesign the main street of Jalan Tengku Kelana to accommodate the increased number of tourists and enhance their shopping experience.

MPK is seeking an allocation from the Federal Government to enhance the infrastructure in Little India through the planned Royal Klang Town Heritage Walk.

Tourism Selangor general manager Noorul Ashikin Mohd Din said tourist arrivals from China to the state had increased exponentially from 493,982 in 2014 to 823,129 last year.

“China is Selangor’s largest market. Tourism Selangor is working hard to increase its promotional activities in second-tier cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Kunming, Chengdu and Dongguan,” she said.

The Boustead Cruise Centre (BCC), a dedicated cruise terminal in Port Klang, is also experiencing more shore excursions.

Noorul said there were a total of 142 cruise calls with 267,850 passengers last year compared to 137 cruise calls with 238,213 passengers in 2015.

Arshad added that strategies were being worked out to encourage more tourists from BCC to include Klang’s Little India in their shore excursion itinerary.