Tourism in Malaysia explained

Tourism in Malaysia is a major industry and contributor to the Malaysian economy. Malaysia was once ranked 9th in the world for tourist arrivals.[1] In 2017, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Malaysia 26 out of 141 countries using its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) which measures the various components and policies of a country that are in place to allow for the sustainable development of its travel and tourism sectors.[2]

In an effort to diversify Malaysia's economy and reduce its dependency on exports, the government pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. This led tourism to become Malaysia's second largest source of foreign exchange income.[3] In 2022, tourism contributed 14% to Malaysia's overall GDP.[4]

The government agency in charge of promoting tourism in Malaysia is Tourism Malaysia or the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB). On 20 May 1987, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) was established and TDC moved to this new ministry. TDC existed from 1972 to 1992, when it became the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), through the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act, 1992.

In 1990, Malaysia launched a tourism campaign called "Fascinating Malaysia. Year of Festivals" which was considered a success and brought in the arrivals of 7.4 million tourists.[5] Five years later, in 1994, Malaysia launched another campaign themed "Fascinating Malaysia. Naturally More" which welcomed 10.22 million tourists. In 2007, Malaysia launched its most notable tourism campaign titled "Malaysia Truly Asia". This campaign was launched in conjunction with Malaysia's 50th year of independence and was heavily promoted and advertised. It exceeded expectations and was a massive success, chartering the arrivals of 20.97 million tourists.

Types of tourism

Medical tourism

See main article: article and Medical tourism in Malaysia. Medical tourism is popular in Malaysia, with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council reporting an arrival of 641,000 foreign patients in 2011, 728,800 in 2012, 881,000 in 2013 and 882,000 in 2014.[6] Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, a government agency with the aim of promoting medical tourism, was launched in 2009 as an initiative by the Ministry of Health.[7]

Tourism Statistics

Tourist arrivals

In 2016, Malaysia recorded 26,757,392 tourist arrivals, a growth of 4.0% compared to 25,721,251 in 2015. The table lists the top 15 arrivals to Malaysia by their origin countries.

Denotes that the country was not within the top 15 arrivals for that year
Foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia!Country!Visitors (6/2024)[8] !Visitors (2023)[9] !Visitors (2022)[10] !Visitors (2021)[11] !Visitors (2020)[12] !Visitors (2019)[13] !Visitors (2018)[14] !Visitors (2017)[15] !Visitors (2016)[16] !Visitors (2015)[17]
4,276,0078,308,2305,222,99116,3081,545,25510,163,88210,615,98612,441,71313,272,96112,930,754
1,786,6303,108,1651,481,73911,025711,7233,623,2773,277,6892,796,5703,049,9642,788,033
813,7831,551,282715,52859,607394,4131,884,3061,914,6921,836,5221,780,8001,343,569
1,449,7111,474,114211,3637,701405,1493,114,2572,944,1332,281,6662,124,9421,677,163
565,999811,833301,757773136,0201,216,1231,382,0311,660,5061,391,0161,133,555
537,493671,846324,5483,916155,883735,309600,311552,739638,578722,141
232,711400,853146,3843,028119,750673,065616,783484,528444,439421,161
168,015344,361173,76358364,184400,346375,578248,927216,877229,926
178,931343,438152,2651,32172,680368,271351,500351,232377,727486,948
192,067339,282159,4422,31766,051421,908396,062370,559417,446554,917
178,038283,38048,13256360,090382,916383,922332,927300,861283,224
175,545272,297134,6672,67663,868346,485361,335358,818400,269401,019
132,684229,89283,3093,11474,383424,694394,540392,777413,768483,569
134,474229,476108,1412,03048,810269,928253,384198,203217,075237,768
63,427142,74859,0331,50917,634179,000150,053111,836114,607147,152
82,721125,98757,78082427,458130,221128,895109,816130,276144,910
71,874115,14555,08784328,237141,661139,408131,668134,257151,474
60,072109,68933,00339928,69479,98472,78567,56450,89355,263
44,983107,65760,5352,04317,777105,75774,45853,45358,38869,112
51,68086,29836,7653779,74546,25738,51342,31449,17566,553
32,38272,62739,82325016,54897,09790,11342,00461,84475,059
42,78371,98130,65647116,63187,56884,70567,05672,33779,557
33,70068,44831,07046614,48682,11081,65175,88572,20084,584
26,24155,05024,9063858,14226,05828,37643,73833,34051,337
27,36551,37535,98068723,390121,444112,263100,549123,87899,754
24,56148,44018,8663008,97154,71052,05544,63842,74751,946
21,85442,95518,2381968,79450,14050,69855,92353,35260,846
18,92040,76220,4741476,36743,61642,26735,14928,01836,692
13,23923,31210,4861975,26325,65925,68020,77526,62828,141
17,37221,4728,4721617,53927,03324,36420,06719,76819,920
10,79520,78311,1176526,20429,83127,90923,76030,23125,637
14,37719,9087,5703147,07846,55967,09459,02347,10265,066
9,40218,48811,3791985,06720,43719,91420,55360,47693,159
10,66418,1278,7391373,73525,65919,68720,85418,20822,746
11,24418,0068,0832539,29229,59232,66534,30432,86135,586
10,58417,7267,5431223,73422,08220,62417,32714,28318,789
11,85117,2757,1692863,15215,29015,40614,59413,02915,395
8,65716,7817,0104255,42426,95523,78239,46031,06124,448
10,00916,0537,7172146,06122,31423,56623,21921,61224,113
7,36515,1557,9371683,87622,67421,97721,56020,05320,625
7,85112,5626,0084523,62821,42122,29118,55522,53320,098
7,39811,1294,3812986,32616,01914,52913,06812,97110,672
6,3759,9814,9601363,55214,58515,20214,12114,70918,622
13,3178,2982,8361416,06518,13813,86112,57710,71715,410
2,2587,8773,2308667911,1749,3868,55514,15015,769
Grand Total11,808,93720,141,84610,074,964134,7284,332,72226,100,78425,832,35425,948,45926,757,39225,721,251

Most-visited destinations and attractions

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur was ranked the 6th most-visited city in the world on the Mastercard Destination Cities Index in 2019.[18] Since the 1990s, the city has played host to many international sporting, political and cultural events, including the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championships, 1998 Commonwealth Games, Formula One since 1999 to 2017, Malaysian Moto GP, 2001 Southeast Asian Games, and 2017 Southeast Asian Games. Kuala Lumpur has undergone rapid development in recent decades and is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Towers which have since become an iconic symbol of Malaysian development. Kuala Lumpur is well connected with neighboring urban metro regions such as Greater Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley via the rapidly expanding Klang Valley Integrated Transit System.

Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley

Genting Highlands

Genting Highladns is a hill station located on the peak of Mount Ulu Kali in the Titiwangsa Mountains, central Peninsular Malaysia, at 1800 metres elevation. Located in the state of Pahang, it was established in 1965 The primary tourist attraction is Resorts World Genting, a hill resort where casinos and theme parks are situated and where gambling is permitted.

Others

Beside the main cities, there other town and places in Malaysia offer some special tourist attraction. Such as in Taiping for their landscape and local attraction. Teluk Intan for their Leaning tower. Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Bukit Tinggi in Pahang and Kundasang in Sabah for a cool climate. Muar in Johor is famous for its food. Miri is the official tourism-city and resort city of Sarawak and Sibu in Sarawak is famous for its landscape and parks.

Islands and beaches

Malaysia has several tropical islands. Some of the islands in Malaysia are:

National parks and nature reserves

Other places of interest

See also

References

  1. Mohd Ayob . Norizawati . Masron . Tarmiji . 2014 . Othuman Mydin . M.A. . Marzuki . A. . Issues of Safety and Security: New Challenging to Malaysia Tourism Industry . SHS Web of Conferences . 12 . 01083 . 10.1051/shsconf/20141201083 . 2261-2424.
  2. Book: . The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 . 2017 . World Economic Forum . 978-1-944835-08-8 . Crotti . Roberto . Geneva . 9 . Misrahi . Tiffany.
  3. Hanafiah . Mohd Hafiz Mohd . Harun . Mohd Fauzi Mohd . 2010 . Tourism Demand in Malaysia: A cross-sectional pool time-series analysis . International Journal of Trade, Economics, and Finance . 1 . 2 . 200 .
  4. Web site: Sunbiz . Tourism rebounded in 2022, contributed 14% to GDP . 2024-05-29 . thesun.my . en-MY.
  5. Web site: Tourism Malaysia Corporate Site . 2024-05-29 . www.tourism.gov.my.
  6. Web site: Statistics . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150803223514/http://www.mhtc.org.my/en/statistics.aspx . 3 August 2015 . 16 August 2015 . Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council . dmy-all.
  7. Sarwar . Abdullah . 2013 . Medical Tourism in Malaysia: Prospect and Challenges . Iranian Journal of Public Health . 42 . 8 . 795–805 . 2251-6085 . 4441909 . 26056632.
  8. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2024) . 7 June 2024.
  9. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2023) . 7 June 2024.
  10. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2022) . 7 June 2024.
  11. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2021) . 28 December 2022.
  12. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2020) . 28 December 2022.
  13. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2019) . 25 March 2020.
  14. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2018) . 21 February 2019.
  15. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2017) . 18 April 2018.
  16. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2016) . 4 March 2018.
  17. Web site: Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2015) . 4 March 2018.
  18. Web site: 4 September 2019 . Mastercard Destination Cities Index 2019 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190906144341/https://newsroom.mastercard.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/GDCI-Global-Report-FINAL-1.pdf . 6 September 2019 . 19 June 2020 . MasterCard.

External links

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