Malaysia hopes to welcome 30 million tourists by 2020
Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is targeting 30 million tourist arrivals in Malaysia by 2020, state news agency Bernama reported.
Deputy tourism minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said the influx of tourists during the year would increase the share of tourism income in GDP to 15.1 per cent, from the 14.9 per cent through 26.1 million tourist arrivals last year. Despite a weak ringgit that was perceived to boost inbound tourism, foreign tourist arrivals to Malaysia were a far cry from the initially targeted 31 million tourists in 2017.
“We are now asking for more budget for tourism promotion because it is key to the sustainability of the tourism industry itself,” he told reporters at an event in Penang on September 30.
He said that the ministry would be able to promote tourism to a wider audience.
“We are now getting stiff competition from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and also Singapore in this industry. So we have to strengthen our promotion and we hope Malaysians themselves take part in boosting the domestic tourism,” he said.
Bakhtiar added that the ministry was working with the Education Ministry to introduce staggered school holiday breaks according to states, to distribute the domestic tourist load.
Currently, Thailand is the most visited country in Southeast Asia with an expected influx of 37.5 million this year and 40 million forecast for next year, a third of them being Chinese. Malaysia comes second, Singapore third, Indonesia fourth and Vietnam fifth.
Malaysia's Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is targeting 30 million tourist arrivals in Malaysia by 2020, state news agency Bernama reported. Deputy tourism minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said the influx of tourists during the year would increase the share of tourism income in GDP to 15.1 per cent, from the 14.9 per cent through 26.1 million tourist arrivals last year. Despite a weak ringgit that was perceived to boost inbound tourism, foreign tourist arrivals to Malaysia were a far cry from the initially targeted 31 million tourists in 2017. “We are now asking for more budget for tourism promotion because it is key...
Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is targeting 30 million tourist arrivals in Malaysia by 2020, state news agency Bernama reported.
Deputy tourism minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said the influx of tourists during the year would increase the share of tourism income in GDP to 15.1 per cent, from the 14.9 per cent through 26.1 million tourist arrivals last year. Despite a weak ringgit that was perceived to boost inbound tourism, foreign tourist arrivals to Malaysia were a far cry from the initially targeted 31 million tourists in 2017.
“We are now asking for more budget for tourism promotion because it is key to the sustainability of the tourism industry itself,” he told reporters at an event in Penang on September 30.
He said that the ministry would be able to promote tourism to a wider audience.
“We are now getting stiff competition from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and also Singapore in this industry. So we have to strengthen our promotion and we hope Malaysians themselves take part in boosting the domestic tourism,” he said.
Bakhtiar added that the ministry was working with the Education Ministry to introduce staggered school holiday breaks according to states, to distribute the domestic tourist load.
Currently, Thailand is the most visited country in Southeast Asia with an expected influx of 37.5 million this year and 40 million forecast for next year, a third of them being Chinese. Malaysia comes second, Singapore third, Indonesia fourth and Vietnam fifth.
