PUTRAJAYA, 12 January 2015: The promotional efforts taken to continue positioning Malaysia as top-of-mind destination to the world during Visit Malaysia Year 2014 has shown positive results despite a challenging year. 

From January to August 2014, Malaysia welcomed a total of 18.4 million (18,378,237) tourists, registering a hike of 10.3% compared to 16.7 million (16,663,084) tourists for the same period last year.

The top 10 tourist generating markets to Malaysia from January to August 2014 were Singapore (9,316,613), Indonesia (1,813,624), China (1,146,581), Thailand (888,111), Brunei (786,868), India (503,315), the Philippines (410,556), Australia (385,993), Japan (367,172) and United Kingdom (307,322).

The month of August alone registered a total of 2,273,271 tourist arrivals, with the ASEAN region contributing a 70.4% share (1.6 million). Among ASEAN countries, Vietnam registered the highest growth of 37.1%, followed by Thailand (+33.8%), Cambodia (+21.2%), Myanmar (+17.8%), the Philippines (+16.0%), Singapore (+12.5) and Indonesia (+4.8%).

The school holidays and summer season in Vietnam, as well as attractive promotion packages offered by local tourism players, were the major factors contributing to the upsurge of Vietnamese travellers to Malaysia.

Participation at five tourism fairs in Thailand by Tourism Malaysia, intensive advertising campaigns as well as cooperation with main tour agents in June and July increased tourist arrivals from the Land of Smiles.

The increase of AirAsia’s weekly flight frequencies from Yangon and Mandalay to Kuala Lumpur also contributed to the rise of arrivals from Myanmar.  

The medium-haul markets contributed 21.7% or 493,020 tourists to Malaysia’s total arrivals in August.

Tourist numbers from the Middle Eastern countries showed tremendous increase in August due to the arrival of summer in their homeland and Aidilfitri holidays. During this period, Oman and Saudi Arabia registered an increase of 137.1% and 94.2% respectively.

Countries that registered double-digit growth in August were South Korea (+93.2%), Japan (+41.0%), India (+36.9%), Australia (+23.1%), Taiwan (+18.2%), New Zealand (+17.3%) and United Arab Emirates (+10.6%).

A hike in August arrivals from South Korea was due to the joint promotional efforts by airline and tourism industry players in promoting packages to visit Malaysia.  Meanwhile, continuous tactical campaigns in Australia and New Zealand brought positive results on the arrivals from both countries.

However, the Republic of China registered a drop of 13% in tourist arrivals for the month of August.

A total of 179,160 tourists or 7.9% of Malaysia’s total arrivals were contributed by the long-haul markets during the month of August. The markets that posted double-digit growth were France (+69.6%), the Netherlands (+53.8%), Spain (+51.2%), Italy (+45.5%), Germany (+42.5%), Russia (+35.7%), Switzerland (+31.9%), the United Kingdom (+29.4%), the United States (+27.8%) and Canada (+25.3%).

The rise of tourist arrivals from the European countries and the United States was mainly due to the beginning of summer holidays, particularly in Switzerland, Austria, France and Germany. Besides, advertising was undertaken in numerous newspapers and magazines in France such as Air France Madame, Le Figaro, Le Parisien, Express, Elle, Paris Match, Stylist, etc.

Note: Data on tourist arrivals is supplied by the Immigration Department of 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.tourismmalaysia.gov.my/

MALAYSIA TOURISM PROMOTION BOARD OR TOURISM MALAYSIA is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Malaysia. Tourism Malaysia focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia at all levels. Since its inception, Tourism Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounds and it has emerged as a major player in the international tourism scene. In 2013, Malaysia registered 25.7 million tourist arrivals and RM65.4 billion in receipts, making tourism its second largest foreign exchange earner and the sixth highest contributor to its Gross National Income (GNI).

Malaysia celebrated its fourth VISIT MALAYSIA YEAR (VMY) in 2014 with the theme “Celebrating 1Malaysia Truly Asia”. The promotion of the country continues with the MALAYSIA YEAR OF FESTIVALS (MyFEST) campaign in 2015 with the theme “Endless Celebrations” emphasising the various festivals celebrated by its multicultural society. Both campaigns are key drivers towards achieving the country’s target of 36 million tourist arrivals and RM168 billion in receipts by 2020, as outlined in the Tourism NKEA (National Key Economic Area).    

Through the Tourism NKEA, collaborative efforts between the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, other Government agencies and the private sector have been enhanced to help secure Malaysia’s position as a leading tourist destination. The targets set under the Tourism NKEA will be achieved through the implementation of twelve Entry Point Projects (EPPs) clustered under five themes: Affordable Luxury; Nature Adventure; Family Fun; Events, Entertainment, Spa and Sports; and Business Tourism.  

Press contact:
Media & Publicity Unit:
Azizah Aziz (Ms), Senior Deputy Director, Communications & Publicity Division
Tel: +603-8891 8752
Email: azizahaziz@tourism.gov.my

Editorial Unit:
Anis Rozalina Ramli (Ms), Senior Editor, Communications & Publicity Division
Tel: +603-8891 8759
Email: anisramli@tourism.gov.my