Tourism in Malaysia - statistics & facts
Touting the slogan 鈥滿alaysia, truly Asia鈥, Malaysia offers a travel destination rich in cultural diversity and traditions. It had the second-highest number of tourist arrivals among all Southeast Asian countries in 2023, after Thailand. Nonetheless, what was once a thriving sector of Malaysia鈥檚 economy, contributing around 6.8 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019, the tourism industry suffered the consequences of the two-year COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2023, the industry had a 4.5 percent share of the GDP, lower than the pre-pandemic time.
While Malaysia has seen improvement in inbound tourism post-pandemic, the Malaysian government also encouraged domestic tourism among eager travelers to further improve the tourism industry. The country itself has diverse holiday spots, including the beautiful beaches of Langkawi Island and renowned foodie heaven, Penang.
According to a March 2024 survey on outbound and domestic travel in Malaysia, 66 percent of the respondents stated that they would like to travel within the country. In 2024, the country saw around 298 million domestic tourism trips, a sharp increase compared to the number in 2021. Moreover, the domestic tourism expenditure increased by more than 22 billion Malaysian ringgit from 2023 to 2024.
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鈥檚 plan to boost its tourism and Malaysia鈥檚 reputation as a Muslim-friendly travel destination would be able to attract more than 35 million tourists in 2026. This would signal not only full recovery of the tourism industry but also cement Malaysia鈥檚 reputation as a world鈥檚 leading travel destination.
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 reopened in early 2022, the tourism industry slowly recovered, and the country welcomed more than 25 million visitors in 2024. Although it was still slightly lower than the number of arrivals in 2019, Malaysia managed to earn around 102 billion Malaysian ringgit in tourism receipts in that year.While Malaysia has seen improvement in inbound tourism post-pandemic, the Malaysian government also encouraged domestic tourism among eager travelers to further improve the tourism industry. The country itself has diverse holiday spots, including the beautiful beaches of Langkawi Island and renowned foodie heaven, Penang.
According to a March 2024 survey on outbound and domestic travel in Malaysia, 66 percent of the respondents stated that they would like to travel within the country. In 2024, the country saw around 298 million domestic tourism trips, a sharp increase compared to the number in 2021. Moreover, the domestic tourism expenditure increased by more than 22 billion Malaysian ringgit from 2023 to 2024.
Visit Malaysia 2026
Given the importance of the tourism industry to Malaysia鈥檚 economy, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the Visit Malaysia campaign would make a comeback in 2026. The government had also allocated 550 million Malaysian ringgit in its Budget 2025 to aggressively promote the campaign, improve flight access, and enhance popular tourist areas.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鈥檚 plan to boost its tourism and Malaysia鈥檚 reputation as a Muslim-friendly travel destination would be able to attract more than 35 million tourists in 2026. This would signal not only full recovery of the tourism industry but also cement Malaysia鈥檚 reputation as a world鈥檚 leading travel destination.
