The tourism industry contributed RM81.4 billion to Malaysia’s coffers in 2017 with a total of 25.7 million tourist arrivals, from 24.6 million in 2010.

According to the National Transformation Programme’s (NTP) Annual Report 2017 Review, the sector focused on new opportunities for growth by building on Malaysia’s prominence as an internationally-renowned tourist destination.

The report, among others, noted that Kuala Lumpur was ranked a top 10 city in terms of tourism growth by the World Travel and Tourism Council while Ipoh was named one of Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities for travel in 2017. Penang was deemed a must-visit destination in 2017 by CNN Travel.

The report also highlighted the following:

E-visa for 30 days of stay available for 10 countries, namely China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Serbia as well as Montenegro.
Tourists spent RM26 billion on shopping, amounting to 32 percent of total tourism receipts in 2017 vs 28 percent in 2009.
Bukit Bintang shopping district recorded 124 million in footfalls.
Three Kraftangan outlets in Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Johor chalked up RM1.2 million in total sales.
The Malaysian Signature Massage launched in October 2017 to promote Malaysia’s massage products.
906,661 visitors recorded in 2017 at Malaysia Mega Biodiversity Hub sites such as Gunung Tahan, Gunung Kinabalu, Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre and Taman Negara Gunung Mulu.
158,682 weekly seats secured by all Malaysian carriers for priority countries, namely China, India, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
22,530 additional weekly seats available for 6 major Indian cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad with the signing of new Air Service Agreement with Indian government.
151 business events secured, amounting to 381,342 delegate days with total economic impact of RM954 million.
Tourism sector achieved 118 percent of Key Performance Indicators (KPI). - Bernama