KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded a significant increase in foreign tourist arrivals, with a total of 7,560,642 visitors from January to April this year, marking a 27.5 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
The Tourism, Arts, and Culture Ministry, in a parliamentary reply yesterday said that Malaysia saw 20,141,846 foreign tourist arrivals throughout last year.
The ministry said this in response to Yeo Bee Yin (PH-Puchong), who asked about the number of foreign tourists visiting Malaysia and the international tourism receipts for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024 to date.
Among Asean countries, Malaysia ranked second after Thailand, which recorded 12,127,447 foreign tourist arrivals. Vietnam followed with 6,199,331; Singapore with 5,709,110; and Indonesia with 4,098,714 tourists.
The ministry said in the first quarter of this year, the total income generated with the arrival of tourists was RM22.23 billion, which marks a 66 per cent increase compared to the first quarter of 2023.
In 2023, the amount stood at RM71.31 billion, and RM28.23 billion in 2022.
To attract more foreign tourists, the ministry has implemented various initiatives, including targeted tourism promotions in markets such as Australia, China, Europe, India, Japan, Korea, Gulf countries, and Nordic countries.
"The ministry is also engaging in discussions with the Home Ministry and the Immigration Department to facilitate the entry of foreign tourists through initiatives like visa on arrival (VOA), multiple entry visas, eVisas, and transit visas.
"We are also attracting the interest of the Muslim tourist market to Malaysia, a market that is increasingly growing worldwide, by encouraging more tourism industry players to obtain Muslim-friendly certifications among others," it said.