Malaysia Expects More Business and Leisure Travelers

Malaysia anticipates a surge in both business and leisure travelers by focusing on more effective marketing strategies and the development of niche tourism products and service. These include medical tourism, sports, the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program and Muslim-friendly tourism. Tourism Malaysia recently participated in the 12^th Jeddah International Travel and Tourism Exhibition as part of its strategic efforts to enhance promotion and attract an increasing number of Middle Eastern travelers to Malaysia. Malaysia has been recognized as a preferred “Top Muslim-Friendly Destination”, recognized by the MasterCard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2023 and honored as the “Muslim Women-Friendly Destination of the Year. 

Musa Yusof, Tourism Malaysia Deputy Director General, expects tourism arrivals in 2024 to surpass the 26.1 million foreign visitors mark. In 2023, Malaysia welcomed approximately 1.4 million Chinese tourists, contributing to a total about 18 million international tourist arrivals and 14.02 billion USD in tourism expenditure. To achieve a five-fold increase in Chinese tourist arrivals, Tourism Malaysia is actively pursuing strategies such as enhancing flight frequency from China and encouraging new airlines to promote Malaysia as a top destination. With this goal, Tourism Malaysia aims to attract approximately 200,000 tourists from China each month. This underscores the vital role of Chinese tourists in Malaysia’s tourism sector. This initiative also aligns with the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relationship between Malaysia and China and supports tourism efforts for Visit Malaysia Year 2026. Additionally, the 30-day via exemption initiative for Chinese and Indian tourists further facilitates travel to Malaysia.