PUTRAJAYA: The number of tourists visiting Malaysia is on the rise. In the first three months of this year 2019, more than 6.6 million tourists had visited Malaysia, which generated RM21.4 billion in revenue compared to RM18.3 billion in the same period last year.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said the increase of the number of tourists visiting Malaysia this year was the result of extra efforts and aggressive marketing campaigns by the ministry of tourism on the international stage, such as participating in international tourism expositions and trade fairs.
“Approximately about 6,696,230 tourists visited the country from January to March, an increase of 2.7 per cent, compared to the 6,520,218 during this same time in 2018.
“In the first quarter of 2018, they spent an average of 4.2 nights while vacationing in Malaysia, whereas this time round it has risen to six nights on average.
“Average per capita expenditure has also increased by 13.8 per cent to RM3,201.80 this quarter, compared to RM2,813.10 last year,” he said at a press conference on the 2019 tourism sector’s performance.
According to Mohammadin, most of the tourists come from Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, India, the United States, China, and Japan.
The highest per capita expenditure came from Saudi Arabia at RM11,069, followed by United Kingdom at RM5,212, India at RM4,712.6, and the United States at RM4,506.2.
“The highest tourist expenditure recorded based on distance is Singapore at RM6.2 billion for the short-haul market; China at RM3.7 billion for the medium-haul market and United Kingdom at RM483.6 million for the long-haul market,” Mohamaddin said.
