A total of 1,819,689 tourists visited Malaysia in March 2008, a drop of 4.5% compared to the same month in 2007.

Cumulatively, tourist arrivals recorded from January to March 2008 were 5,342,291, representing an increase of 1.2% compared to 5,280,094 for the same period in 2007.

Table 1: Comparison of tourist arrivals to Malaysia (March 2007 and 2008)

MONTH	TOURIST ARRIVALS 2007	TOURIST ARRIVALS 2008	CHANGE %
MARCH	1,906,304	1,819,689	-4.5

Source: Immigration Department of Malaysia

Table 2: Comparison of tourist arrivals to Malaysia (January – March 2007 and 2008)

MONTH	TOURIST ARRIVALS 2007	TOURIST ARRIVALS 2008	CHANGE %
JANUARY – MARCH	1,906,304	1,819,689	-4.5

Source: Immigration Department of Malaysia

Singapore maintained its position as the biggest tourist generating market for Malaysia with 882,787 Singaporeans visiting the country in March 2008. Others in the top ten list are Indonesia (185,537), Thailand (115,868), China (85,542), Brunei (70,829), Japan (40,318), India (39,621), United Kingdom (34,407), Australia (33,500) and the Philippines (30,515).

Most major markets also recorded double digit growth in the month of March 2008. They are Russia (50.8%), Canada (47.5%), South Africa (45.9%), Indonesia (43.6%), the Netherlands (42.6%), New Zealand (40.1%), France (36.0%), Germany (31.7%), the United Kingdom (30.4%), China (including Hong Kong & Macau) (27.8%), Cambodia (19.8%), India (19.3%), Australia (18.9%), the Philippines (12.3%), and South Korea (10.1%).

The top ten tourist generating markets from January to March 2008 were Singapore (2,620,880), Indonesia (510,847), Thailand (351,049), China (including Hong Kong & Macau) (258, 374), Brunei (215,558), India (116,991), Japan (111,959), Australia (100,811), the United Kingdom (96,569) and the Philippines (83,276).

For more information, please log on to Tourism Malaysia’s online Media Centre at http://www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my/tourismbiz/media_centre/ and click on "Facts and Figures."