PUTRAJAYA, 15 AUGUST 2019: Tourism Malaysia today conducted a joint press conference with the Department of Statistics, Malaysia, to present the performance of domestic tourism for the year 2018.

Number of domestic tourists showed a double-digit growth of 10.9% in 2018, recording a total of 78.2 million domestic tourists as compared to 70.5 million domestic tourists in 2017.

Total expenditure by domestic tourists also registered a double-digit growth of 11.7%, recording a total of RM60.4 billion as compared to RM54.1 billion in 2017.

Average per capita expenditure rose by 0.7% to RM772 as compared to RM767 in 2017.

Expenditure for shopping activities recorded the highest percentage share of the total expenditure at 26.8%. This was followed by expenditure on fuel (15.4%), food and beverages (13.9%), expenditure for visited households (13.7%), accommodation (13.0%), transportation (8.4%), other activities (4.9%), and expenditure before the trip/packages/entrance fees/tickets (3.9%).

The average length of stay showed an increase of 3.8% to 2.44 nights in 2018 from 2.35 nights in 2017.

The state which received the highest number of domestic tourists was Pahang with 9.2 million arrivals. This was followed by Johor (7.8 million), Perak (7.6 million), Selangor (6.8 million) and Negeri Sembilan (6.1 million).

Domestic tourists preferred unpaid accommodation provided by relatives and friends as the main choice of accommodation. It recorded the highest percentage of 68.2%, followed by hotels (20.4%), apartments (4.4%), homestays/vacation homes (3.0%), chalets (2.3%) and rest houses (1.7%).

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, YB Datuk Mohamaddin bin Ketapi says, “Domestic tourism continues to play an important role in enhancing the national economy, and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture will continue to work closely with Tourism Malaysia to support domestic tourism promotion.”

He says, “The encouraging growth of domestic tourism in 2018 inspires and motivates the ministry to make the Visit Malaysia 2020 campaign a success. It is a national mission to ensure Malaysia remains competitive in the global tourism industry.”

“We hope that all Malaysian citizens will embrace this mission and continue to support the Malaysian tourism industry,” he adds.

Also present at today’s joint press conference was YBhg. Dato' Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician Malaysia, Department of Statistics Malaysia

Malaysia’s 2018 domestic tourism statistics is obtained from the Domestic Tourism Survey conducted in cooperation with the Department of Statistics, Malaysia.

ENDS

For more media releases, media info and media features on Malaysia’s tourism industry, kindly visit the Media Centre of Tourism Malaysia’s website at http://www.tourism.gov.my/

MALAYSIA TOURISM PROMOTION BOARD OR TOURISM MALAYSIA is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia. It focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia as a preferred tourism destination. Since its inception, it has emerged as a major player in the international tourism scene. In 2018, Malaysia registered 25.8 million tourist arrivals and RM84.1 billion tourist receipts, placing it among the major tourism destinations of the world.

For press information, contact:

Muadz Samat
Assistant Director,
Corporate Communication Division
muadz@tourism.gov.my
Tel: +603 8891 8755

Rohaida Mohamad
Public Relation Officer,
Department of Statistics,
Malaysiarohaida.mohamad@dosm.gov.my
Tel: +603 8885 7942