The Malaysian state of Sarawak is expected to meet and exceed its target of 3 million foreign arrivals before the end of this year, with even bigger visitor numbers projected for 2024.
According to Datuk Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, the state had already welcomed more than 2.6 million visitors by the end of August and expected to meet its target – nearly four months ahead of schedule – in September.
“By September, we will have surpassed the three million target,” said the minister in a statement published by Malay Mail on 15 September. “Basically, we have got back to pre-Covid-19 time and the number of visitors coming to Sarawak has more or less reached the level of pre-pandemic.”
Speaking at a press conference to promote the What About Kuching (WAK) Festival 2023, the minister went on to confirm that the number of arrivals in the state has seen a marked improvement compared to last year.
“Just August this year alone, the number of foreigners (that) came in was 168,822, as compared to 78,880 in the same month last year,” said the minister. “For domestic travellers, meaning from Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, it was 155,351 August this year and 115,132 August last year, an increase of 34.93 per cent,” he added.
From January to August, Sarawak’s performance has outstripped expectations, with 1,414,443 foreign visitors representing a massive 71.56 per cent increase on the 206,328 who visited during the same period in 2022.
Many of these visitors have been from regional neighbours Brunei, Indonesia and Singapore, although the minister is confident that arrival numbers from Europe and Australia are also on the rise. He also believes that these numbers will be supplemented by the imminent return of Chinese travellers to the international scene.
“I was in Beijing last week, and I can see that the Chinese government is not really encouraging the people to go out,” said the minister. “But give them a little bit of time – once they start moving out, we will push the numbers up again,” he added.
For the time being, Sarawak is already in a very healthy position, representing wider trends across Malaysia. With visitor numbers on the rise and targets being met ahead of schedule, Malaysian tourism is ready to celebrate a supremely successful year in its tourism recovery.
