Malaysia confirms accelerating tourism growth in 2013

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s tourism industry performed above expectations in 2013, with tourist receipts of RM65.44 billion (US$ 20.24 billion) exceeding the initial target of RM65 billion. The 8.1% growth over 2012, represented an expansion of about US$ 1.49 billion in foreign exchange earnings. The performance hung to the good evolution in tourist arrivals. Last year, they grew by 2.7% to 25.7 million (25,715,460) arrivals compared to 25.0 million (25,032,708) arrivals in 2012 despite a challenging year.
 

“We are pleased to achieve such a substantial growth in tourist receipts last year. This is in line with the broad objectives of the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) and Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan (MTTP) to increase yield per tourist. Last year, the average tourist spending per capita stood at US$ 787.89 per person compared to US$ 748.92 per person in 2012,” said the Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.
 

He added that tourism was the sixth largest contributor to the economy moving up one spot compared to 2012. It contributed US$ 15.94 billion to Gross National Income (GNI) in 2013. 

The Minister attributed the growth in tourist arrivals and spending to the Government’s focus on the initiatives under National Key Economic Area (NKEA). Tourism including the promotion of Malaysia as a duty-free and affordable luxury shopping destination, as well as the concerted efforts through the strategic public-private partnership to position and brand Malaysia as the top-of-mind destination for business and leisure.
 

The ASEAN market remains the largest contributor with 19.1 million arrivals, representing a 74.3% share of the overall tourist arrivals to Malaysia. The medium-haul market was the second largest market with 4.9 million arrivals followed by the long-haul market with 1.7 million arrivals.   

  

TABLE – Top inbound markets to Malaysia in 2013

COUNTRY	2012	2013	Diff. %
Singapore	13,014,268	13,178,774	1.3
Indonesia	2,382,606	2,548,021	6.9
Brunei	1,258,070	1,238,871	-1.5
China	1,558,785	1,791,423	14.9
Thailand	1,263,024	1,156,452	-8.4
Australia	507,948	526,342	3.6
India	691,271	650,989	-5.8
Philippines	508,744	557,147	9.5
Japan	470,008	513,076	9.2
UK	402,207	413,472	2.8
South Korea	283,977	274,622	-3.3
USA	240,134	246,936	2.8

        (Source: Tourism Malaysia)