According to the latest figures released by Malaysia’s government, the country’s tourism sector has continued to exhibit positive growth from January to September 2019.
During this period, Malaysia surpassed a landmark 20 million international tourist arrivals; an increase of 3.7% compared to the same period last year. A grand total of 20,109,203 holidaymakers chose Malaysia between January and September of this year, compared with 19,386,115 in the same months of 2018.
These visitors came from a range of countries worldwide, though the top 10 contributing nations reflected Malaysia’s popularity among its neighbours. The highest number of tourist arrivals overall came from Singapore, with a total of 7,868,755, followed by Indonesia (2,792,776), China (2,413,956), Thailand (1,442,224), Brunei (929,789), India (539,167), South Korea (508,080), Vietnam (323,393), Japan (321,283) and the Philippines (317,294).
The latest figures also offer an insight into tourist behaviour, such as spending habits, length of stay and favourite activities. Overall tourist expenditure from January to September this year reached RM66.14 billion, which was an increase of 6.9% on the same period in 2018. Per capita expenditure also grew by 3.1% from RM3,190.5 in 2018 to RM3,289.3 this year.
In another indicator of Malaysia’s growing popularity, visitors’ average length of stay also demonstrated growth, albeit by a small margin; from 7.3 nights to 7.4 nights. Despite this, the figures showed that Malaysia’s short haul market remains its largest contributor of tourists, with a share of 68.7%. The medium haul market accounted for 21.6% of arrivals, while long haul flights came in at 9.7%.
The latest statistics show that Malaysia’s tourism industry is healthy and continuing to grow. With a new range of promotional campaigns planned for 2020 and a range of stellar destinations waiting to be explored, the signs are good for continued growth in Malaysia.
