Fan Bingbing tasked by Malaysia’s Melaka to lure in 1 million Chinese tourists

Fan, who mysteriously disappeared for four months as allegations of tax evasion swirled around her in 2018, spent last weekend in Melaka hosted by the government to sample the spiky fruit and local desserts as it seeks to persuade a large slice of the five million Chinese visitors for the whole of Malaysia to travel to the southwestern coast.

Tourism is the third-largest contributor to Malaysia’s economy behind the manufacturing and commodities sectors and the Southeast Asian has frantically been working to raise visitor numbers back to pre-pandemic levels when the industry constituted as much as 16 per cent of the gross domestic product.

“After the Covid-19 pandemic, my mind was very unsettled, and I had not travelled abroad,” Fan, dressed in a traditional pink Nyonya kebaya dress, told reporters.

“However, post-pandemic tourism has become lively again, and people will surely choose places they have never visited before.”

With a mix of local, Portuguese, and Dutch influences, the modern day city of Melaka does well with tourists, with over 116,000 Chinese people visiting between January to April, according to authorities.

Melaka has been closely tied to the Ming dynasty in China since the 15th century, who offered the Malay sultanate of Melaka protection from other regional powers, particularly the Siamese.

This long historical tie continues to be cited today as proof of good relations between Malaysia and China.

Fan’s appointment echoes previous attempts by Melaka to use celebrities from Jackie Chan to Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan in the hope of promoting Malaysia to their large fan base.

With over 1.47 million Chinese nationals visiting the country in 2023, Malaysia now hopes to entice many times that number this year, as