NOW with borders reopening, Malaysia’s tourism industry is beginning to see its revival once more and invite travelers from different countries; however, there is always room for improvement, and listening to tourists’ feedback is critical to improving the country’s standards.
A YouTube channel called Chai Travel asked random tourists leaving Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to give some input on their pros and cons of travelling in the country.
The first tourist Ben, who is from London, England, said that it was his first time being in Malaysia and Asia in general and that he was in Langkawi for a friend’s wedding.
“The people are very friendly. Everyone wants to help you, which is good. Food is amazing. You’ve got a bit of Indian, a bit of Chinese, a bit of Malay food. It’s really cool,” Ben said.
In terms of negative experiences, he remarked that Kuala Lumpur is not a walk in the park for pedestrians.
“The only thing I found difficult in KL was that it’s not easy to get around. For foreigners, walking is not that great so, you’ll be walking one minute and all of a sudden there is no pavement.
“You have to get a Grab or something. Grab is a little bit like sometimes hit-or-miss. If you need to get somewhere, I would recommend scheduling it,” Ben added.
The Englishman recommended giving themselves ‘an extra 20 minutes’ to book a ride.
Next, two Australian women, Jane and Christine, have been to Malaysia several times, and the best thing about the country is satay, apparently.
All jokes aside, the duo remarked that the people are very friendly and how easy-going Malaysians are in general.
“There’s a lot to see. There’s a lot more here than what people realised. Do you know what I mean? They tend to go straight to Singapore. Whereas here, there is just as much if not more to see as well,” Christine said.
The mother-daughter duo had nothing that negative to say about Malaysia mentioning: “The roads are good” and that “Its easy to get around.”
In terms of safety, the duo imparted some words of wisdom, saying that in every city in the world, there is always going to be a ‘rough area’ and how we have to use our brains going about it.
Later on, another English couple, Paul and Jen, had something to say about the cleanliness aspect of the national icon, Batu Caves.
“We went to Batu Caves and there was lots of rubbish and stuff (lying) around,” Jen remarked.
Chai mentioned that he had heard several tourists complain the same thing about Batu Caves.
Paul commented on Malaysia’s ‘crazy traffic’ and his experience of life being at a gamble as a pedestrian, with motorcyclists not obeying traffic laws, riding through the red light.
“Your life is in your hands when you cross a big road. You have to get a local on the other side of you between you and the cars and you’d feel a bit safer,” he said while chuckling a little.
However, they commended Malaysia for its many places to explore and its people’s friendliness.
