KUALA LUMPUR: Domestic tourism in Malaysia registered a surge after it recorded 48.6 million visitors for the first quarter of 2023 (1Q23) which rose by 33.7 per cent from a year ago, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
As for domestic tourism expenditure for 1Q23, it recorded RM19.2 billion which indicated 47.0 per cent of increase year-on-year and 4.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
DOSM said in the Domestic Tourism Malaysia 2022 report, in 2022 the number of domestic visitor arrivals in Malaysia surged 160.1 per cent to reach 171.6 million visitors.
This is against 66.0 million visitors which was recorded last year.
"Domestic tourism expenditure in 2022 increased 248.1 per cent to record RM64.1 billion compared to RM 18.4 billion in 2021," it said.
Shopping tops the chart as the largest contributor to the total expenditure with a share of 38.9 per cent followed by food and beverage of 15.2 per cent and then purchase of automotive fuel by 13.8 per cent.
In terms of travelling trends for domestic visitors, DOSM cited visiting friends and relatives as the most popular purpose for domestic visit by 33.7 per cent.
It is then followed by shopping at 29.9 per cent and holiday and leisure at 16.4 per cent.
"In 2022, domestic visitors by household income of RM5,001 to RM10,000 increased to record the highest contribution of 31.2 per cent.
"Meanwhile, domestic visitors from household income between RM1,001 to RM3,000 decreased 2.2 percentage points from 2021 to registered 27.1 per cent in 2022," it said.