Tourism in Malaysia

Batu Caves, a popular tourist attraction in Selangor

Tourism in Malaysia is a major industry and contributor to the Malaysian economy. Malaysia was once ranked 9th in the world for tourist arrivals.[1] In 2017, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Malaysia 26 out of 141 countries using its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) which measures the various components and policies of a country that are in place to allow for the sustainable development of its travel and tourism sectors.[2]

In an effort to diversify Malaysia's economy and reduce its dependency on exports, the government pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. This led tourism to become Malaysia's second largest source of foreign exchange income.[3] In 2022, tourism contributed 14% to Malaysia's overall GDP.[4]

The government agency in charge of promoting tourism in Malaysia is Tourism Malaysia or the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB). On 20 May 1987, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) was established and TDC moved to this new ministry. TDC existed from 1972 to 1992, when it became the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), through the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act, 1992.

In 1990, Malaysia launched a tourism campaign called "Fascinating Malaysia. Year of Festivals" which was considered a success and brought in the arrivals of 7.4 million tourists.[5] Five years later, in 1994, Malaysia launched another campaign themed "Fascinating Malaysia. Naturally More" which welcomed 10.22 million tourists.[5] In 2007, Malaysia launched its most notable tourism campaign titled "Malaysia Truly Asia".[5] This campaign was launched in conjunction with Malaysia's 50th year of independence and was heavily promoted and advertised.[5] It exceeded expectations and was a massive success, chartering the arrivals of 20.97 million tourists.[5]

  1. ^ Mohd Ayob, Norizawati; Masron, Tarmiji (2014). Othuman Mydin, M.A.; Marzuki, A. (eds.). "Issues of Safety and Security: New Challenging to Malaysia Tourism Industry". SHS Web of Conferences. 12: 01083. doi:10.1051/shsconf/20141201083. ISSN 2261-2424.
  2. ^ Crotti, Roberto; Misrahi, Tiffany, eds. (2017). The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 (PDF). Geneva: World Economic Forum. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-944835-08-8.
  3. ^ Hanafiah, Mohd Hafiz Mohd; Harun, Mohd Fauzi Mohd (2010). "Tourism Demand in Malaysia: A cross-sectional pool time-series analysis" (PDF). International Journal of Trade, Economics, and Finance. 1 (2): 200.
  4. ^ Sunbiz. "Tourism rebounded in 2022, contributed 14% to GDP". thesun.my. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Tourism Malaysia Corporate Site". www.tourism.gov.my. Retrieved 29 May 2024.