Tourism in Malaysia

Malaysia was once ranked 9th in the world for tourist arrivals.[1] The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks Malaysia 25th out of 141 countries overall.

Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur
Teluk Cempedak Beach, Kuantan
South Beach, Perhentian Besar
Bird's-eye view of Kuching, Sarawak

In an effort to diversify the economy and make Malaysia's economy less dependent on exports, the government pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. As a result, tourism has become Malaysia's third largest source of foreign exchange income,[2] and accounted for 7% of Malaysia's economy as of 2005.[3]

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 1999, Malaysia launched a worldwide marketing campaign called "Malaysia, Truly Asia" which was largely successful and brought in over 7.4 million tourists.[4] The extra revenue generated by tourism helped the country's economy during the economic crisis of 2008.[5]

Types of tourism

Medical tourism
Main article: Medical tourism in Malaysia

Medical tourism is popular in Malaysia, with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council reporting an arrival of 641,000 foreign patients in 2011, 728,800 in 2012, 881,000 in 2013 and 882,000 in 2014.[6] Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, a government agency with the aim of promoting medical tourism, was launched in 2009 as an initiative by the Ministry of Health.[7]

Tourist arrivals

Tourist arrivals

In 2016, Malaysia recorded 26,757,392 tourist arrivals, a growth of 4.0% compared to 25,721,251 in 2015.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Malaysia
Rank Country Visitors (2019)[8] Visitors (2018)[9] Visitors (2017)[10] Visitors (2016)[11] Visitors (2015)[12] Visitors (2014)[13] Visitors (2013)[14]
1  Singapore 10,163,882 10,615,986 12,441,713 13,272,961 12,930,754 13,932,967 13,178,774
2  Indonesia 3,623,277 3,277,689 2,796,570 3,049,964 2,788,033 2,827,533 2,548,021
3  China 3,114,257 2,944,133 2,281,666 2,124,942 1,677,163 1,613,355 1,791,423
4  Thailand 1,884,306 1,914,692 1,836,522 1,780,800 1,343,569 1,299,298 1,156,452
5  Brunei 1,216,123 1,382,031 1,660,506 1,391,016 1,133,555 1,213,110 1,238,471
6  India 735,309 600,311 552,739 638,578 722,141 770,108 650,989
7  South Korea 673,065 616,783 484,528 444,439 421,161 385,769 274,622
8  Japan 424,694 394,540 392,777 413,768 483,569 553,106 513,076
9  Philippines 421,908 396,062 370,559 417,446 554,917 618,538 557,147
10  Vietnam 400,346 375,578 248,927 216,877 229,626 285,716 235,700
11  Taiwan 382,916 383,922 332,927 300,861 283,224 274,665 286,266
12  Australia 368,271 351,500 351,232 377,727 486,948 571,328 526,342
13  United Kingdom 346,485 361,335 358,818 400,269 401,019 445,789 413,472
14  United States 269,928 253,384 198,203 217,075 237,768 262,106 246,936
15  Bangladesh 179,000 150,054 111,836 114,607 147,152 204,418 134,663
Grand total26,100,78425,832,35425,948,45926,757,39225,721,25127,437,31525,715,460

Destinations and attractions
Further information: List of tourist attractions in Malaysia
  • Alor Star – capital of Kedah, the state of the paddy fields
  • George Town – the capital city of Penang, one of the country's UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 7 July 2008.
  • Ipoh – capital of Perak, famous for its Chinese food, tin mines and limestone mountains and caves
  • Johor Bahru – capital of Johor, and gateway to Singapore
  • Kangar – capital of Perlis, and gateway to Thailand
  • Kota Kinabalu – capital and the gate way to Sabah which is Mount Kinabalu
  • Kota Bharu – capital of Kelantan, and gateway to Thailand
  • Kuala Terengganu – capital of Terengganu, famous for the turtles and beaches
  • Kuantan – capital of Pahang, noted for its many beaches
  • Kuching – capital of Sarawak, the Cat City of Malaysia
  • Malacca City – a historical city in Malaysia. This is the other cultural World Heritage Site in Malaysia since 7 July 2008.
  • Marina Island - first man-made island situated between Lumut and Pangkor
  • Miri – the resort city of Sarawak is the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Mulu caves and numerous national parks like Niah caves, Lambir Hills National Park and Loagan Bunut National Park. Noted for its pristine coral reefs and ecotourism attractions too.
  • Seremban – the capital of Negeri Sembilan, and the nearest cities to Port Dickson
  • Putrajaya – the administrative centre of Malaysia
  • Petaling Jaya – a satellite city located in the state of Selangor, and is in the proximity of Kuala Lumpur. It has the most commercial complexes in Malaysia.

Beside the main cities, there other town and places in Malaysia offer some special tourist attraction. Such as in Taiping, Perak for their landscape and local attraction. Teluk Intan for their Leaning tower. Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands and Bukit Tinggi in Pahang for a cool climate. Muar in Johor is famous for its food. Miri is the official tourism-city and resort city of Sarawak and Sibu in Sarawak is famous for its landscape and parks.

Islands and beaches
Sapi Island from one of Kota Kinabalu numerous beaches. Sapi Island is included in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park.

Malaysia has several tropical islands. Some of the islands in Malaysia are:

National parks and nature reserves

Other places of interest
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See also

References
  1. http://travel-to-malaysia.com/malaysia-is-ninth-most-visited-in-the-world-in-unwto-list/
  2. Munan, Heidi. Malaysia. New York: Benchmark Books, 2002. pp. 28.
  3. "M'sia is ninth most visited in the world in UNWTO list". The Star. 7 February 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  4. Munan, Heidi. Malaysia. New York: Benchmark Books, 2002. pp. 29.
  5. Warshaw, Steven, and A. J. Tudisco. Southeast Asia Emerges; a Concise History of Southeast Asia from Its Origin to the Present. [Berkeley, Calif.]: Diablo, 1975. Print. pp. 77.
  6. "Statistics". Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council. Archived from the original on 3 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  7. "Who we are". Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  8. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2019)" (PDF). Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  9. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2018)" (PDF). Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  10. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2017)" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  11. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2016)" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  12. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2015)" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  13. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2014)" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  14. "Top 45 Tourist Arrivals (2013)" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  15. Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary (Temerloh) Archived 18 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Tourism Pahang.
  16. Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, Endemic Guides.
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