Tourism in Malaysia - statistics & facts
Slow but steady recovery
As a result of the travel restrictions in 2020 and 2021, the number of tourist arrivals in Malaysia dropped by around 99 percent. After the borders re-opened in early 2022, the tourism industry slowly recovered, and the country welcomed more than ten million visitors that year. Although the number was still much lower than the pre-pandemic tourist arrivals, Malaysia managed to earn more than 28 billion Malaysian ringgit in tourism receipts.With international tourism still slowly improving post-pandemic, the Malaysian government encouraged domestic tourism among eager travelers within the country. In 2022, the country saw more than 200 million domestic tourism trips, a sharp increase compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, the domestic tourism expenditure could only mitigate a fraction of the losses for Malaysia’s tourism industry.
Visit Malaysia 2026
Given the importance of the tourism industry to Malaysia’s economy, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the Visit Malaysia campaign would make a comeback in 2026. The government has also allocated 350 million Malaysian ringgit in its Budget 2024 to aggressively promote the country’s tourism industry.Currently, ASEAN countries still make up the majority of international tourist arrivals to Malaysia, with the neighboring Singapore in the lead. The Malaysian government hoped that the country’s plan to boost its tourism and Malaysia’s reputation as a Muslim-friendly travel destination would be able to attract more than 26 million tourists by 2026, just like it was before the pandemic started.