malaysia outbound travel statistics

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Number of outbound travelers Malaysia 2013-2021

Number of outbound travelers in malaysia from 2013 to 2021 (in millions).

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January 2017

Asia, Malaysia

2013 to 2016

*Estimate. **Forecast. Data excludes cross border land travel to Singapore.

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Malaysia Tourism Statistics in Brief

Ministry of Tourism & Culture of Malaysia receives and collates tourism related data from multiple sources. These have been formulated, configured and analysed to provide industry players with concise and useful information such as facts and figures on the performance of Malaysian tourism sector.

You are encouraged to visit our MyTourismData Portal for more details.

The above data is just a glimpse of Malaysian tourism statistics and data. To find more details on Malaysia Tourist Arrivals, Tourist Receipts, and other tourism performance data, please visit MyTourismData Portal.

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Malaysia outbound tourism – infographic

Publication date: Feb 2020

Language: English

This infographic summarises the key trends of the Malaysian outbound tourism market from the Research Snapshot on the South-East Asian outbound travel market .

The study on the South-East Asian Outbound Travel Market investigates the potential of four key outbound markets in the South-East Asian region: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. It aims to provide insights into the South-East Asian travel market and identify long-term attitudinal and behavioural emerging trends with respect to travel to Europe.

A better understanding of these markets will not only lay the foundations for the development of thematic products and experiences that align with the interests of travellers from these markets but will also shed light on specific target groups that present a suitable fit to Europe as a tourism destination and to ETC member countries’ offer.

The following infographics provide more details about the other South-East Asian Outbound markets:

Tourism Satellite Account 2021 .favourite { position : absolute; width : 24px; height : 24px; background : url(images/icon/fav-pub-gray.png) no-repeat; top : 0px; right : 0; } .added { background : url(images/icon/fav-pub-yellow.png) no-repeat; }

Domestic Tourism dominated with 97.4 per cent to tourism expenditure in 2021

Gross Value Added of Tourism Industries (GVATI) amounted to RM197.9 billion contributing 12.8% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to 14.1 per cent in 2020. Based on the tourism subsectors performance, almost all industries have recorded negative growth rate except Retail sale of automotive fuel (4.7%), Retail trade (4.4%) and Country-specific tourism services (3.4%). Retail trade remained the main contributor to the tourism industry (56.1%). Tourism Direct Gross Domestic Product (TDGDP) recorded RM13.1 billion compared to RM28.4 billion in 2020, tumbled 53.8 per cent (2020: -72.2%). Overall, TDGDP contributed 0.9 per cent to GDP as against 2.0 per cent in 2020. The three main products in TDGDP were Retail trade, Accommodation and Food & beverage serving services with a combined share of 73.5 per cent in 2021. Inbound tourism expenditure plunged 96.6 per cent to RM0.47 billion in 2021 in tandem with the decline in the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Malaysia. The Internal tourism consumption has generated RM17.9 billion, decreased by 65.8 percent from the previous year. Domestic tourism showed a significant performance by contributing 97.4 per cent to the total internal tourism consumption while inbound tourism recorded 2.6 per cent. Domestic tourism expenditure recorded RM17.5 billion in 2021 compared to RM38.6 billion in the previous year with a decrease of 54.8 per cent (2020: -58.3%). The three tourism products that recorded a significant double-digit decline were Travel agency services (-77.7%), followed by Passenger transport services (-64.5%) and Food & beverage serving services (-62.9%). Employment in the tourism industry recorded 3.52 million people in 2021 which contributed 23.4 per cent to the total employment. The employment of this industry has recovered to 1.8 per cent from a negative 2.9 per cent in the previous year. The full publication of the Tourism Satellite Account 2021 can be downloaded through   eStatistik  portal.

Released by:

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS MALAYSIA 28 September 2022

Contact person:

Baharudin bin Mohamad Public Relation Officer Strategic Communication and International Division Department of Statistics, Malaysia Tel : +603-8885 7942 Fax : +603-8888 9248 Email : baharudin[at]dosm.gov.my

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Print this article, previous articles :.

• Tourism Satellite Account 2020
• Tourism Satellite Account 2019
• Tourism Satellite Account 2018
• Tourism Satellite Account 2017
• Tourism Satellite Account 2016
• Tourism Satellite Account 2015
• Tourism Satellite Account, 2010-2014
• Tourism Satellite Account 2005 - 2013
• Tourism Satellite Account 2005 - 2012
• Tourism Satellite Account 2005 - 2011
• Tourism Satellite Account 2000 - 2010

Department of Statistics, Malaysia Block C6, Complex C, Federal Government Administrative Centre, 62514, PUTRAJAYA Tel : 03-8885 7000 Fax : 03-8888 9248 Email : [email protected] (general enquiries) [email protected] (data request & enquiries) Website : https://www.dosm.gov.my

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Malaysia Tourism Statistics

Malaysia international tourism: expenditures, view malaysia's malaysia international tourism: expenditures from 1995 to 2016 in the chart:.

Malaysia International Tourism: Expenditures: % of Total Imports

View malaysia's malaysia international tourism: expenditures: % of total imports from 1995 to 2016 in the chart:.

Malaysia International Tourism: Expenditures: for Passenger Transport Items

View malaysia's malaysia international tourism: expenditures: for passenger transport items from 1995 to 2009 in the chart:.

Malaysia International Tourism: Expenditures: for Travel Items

View malaysia's malaysia international tourism: expenditures: for travel items from 1995 to 2016 in the chart:.

Malaysia International Tourism: Number of Arrivals

View malaysia's malaysia international tourism: number of arrivals from 1995 to 2016 in the chart:.

Malaysia International Tourism: Receipts

View malaysia's malaysia international tourism: receipts from 1995 to 2016 in the chart:.

Malaysia International Tourism: Receipts: % of Total Exports

View malaysia's malaysia international tourism: receipts: % of total exports from 1995 to 2016 in the chart:.

Malaysia International Tourism: Receipts: for Passenger Transport Items

View malaysia's malaysia international tourism: receipts: for passenger transport items from 1995 to 2009 in the chart:.

Malaysia International Tourism: Receipts: for Travel Items

View malaysia's malaysia international tourism: receipts: for travel items from 1995 to 2016 in the chart:.

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Data Insights

Top ten outbound destinations from malaysia.

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As the travel & tourism industry continues on its recovery path, outbound trips from Malaysia are increasing, with people eager to resume and reboot their travel plans. According to GlobalData, this pent-up demand, coupled with increased confidence around COVID-19 protocols, is helping to drive the recovery of Malaysia’s outbound travel sector. GlobalData provides a complete picture of the outbound destinations from Malaysia in its Travel & Tourism in Malaysia report. Buy the report here.

In 2022, international departures from Malaysia grew by 522%.

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Premium insights travel & tourism in malaysia (2022).

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Outbound travel from Malaysia is not dominated by any single destination, but intraregional travel is a noticeable trend. In the case of Malaysia, eight of the ten most popular destinations are located in Asia Pacific.

However, even when focusing only on the top ten, flows to different destinations vary. Understanding the relative size of these and identifying high-potential destinations outside of this list is key to identifying promising growth markets for Malaysia as a source market and for destinations to understand current preferences among Malaysian travelers so they can better target them.

According to GlobalData’s report, Travel & Tourism in Malaysia, the most popular destinations for the country’s travelers include Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and the UK among others.

For more detailed analysis of the outbound destinations from Malaysia, buy GlobalData’s Travel & Tourism in Malaysia.

Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors.

Be better informed

GlobalData , the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.     

GlobalData’s Travel & Tourism Intelligence Center provides tracks tourism demand s and flows, expenditure, and competitor KPIs across 180 countries . It also s egment s over $26 trillion in expenditure by accommodation, foodservice, retail, transport, and entertainment . GlobalData’s analysis reports provide d etailed insight into key source and destination markets with real world examples of success to support recommendations .      

Data Insights Travel & Tourism in Malaysia (2022)

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Malaysia welcomes Chi­nese tourists back in droves af­ter pan­dem­ic slump

Kuala Lumpur targets record 5 million Chinese visitors in 2024 as it hopes to accelerate post-pandemic recovery.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Chinese tourists are returning to Malaysia en masse after the COVID-19 pandemic slump, industry figures say, amid expectations arrivals could reach pre-pandemic levels this year following the introduction of visa-free entry.

Mint Leong, president of the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association, estimated that arrivals rose by about one-third year-on-year in January to some 60,000, followed by a 50 percent rise in February to some 120,000.

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“Chinese New Year will be the best arrivals post-COVID-19,” Leong told Al Jazeera.

Leong said she expects Chinese arrivals to reach 3.5-4.5 million this year, with the average tourist spending 5,000-6,000 Malaysian ringgits ($1,000-$1,200) during their trip.

Before the pandemic, China was the third-largest source of tourists after Singapore and Indonesia, sending 3.1 million visitors in 2019.

The Malaysian government has set a target of 5 million Chinese visitors in 2024, hoping to deliver a jolt to the post-pandemic recovery of Southeast Asia’s fifth-largest economy.

Malaysia’s economy grew 3.7 percent in 2023, missing official targets and lagging behind regional neighbours such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

In December, Kuala Lumpur introduced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, allowing visitors to stay in the country for up to 30 days for travel and leisure purposes.

The move added Malaysia to the list of 88 countries and territories that Chinese travellers, whose passport ranks 62nd on the Henley Passport Index for ease of travel, can visit without needing to apply for a visa.

“The visa-free deal will definitely boost Chinese tourist arrivals in Malaysia to aid stronger tourism and related services growth,” Lee Heng  Guie, an economist and executive director of the Kuala Lumpur-based Socio Economic Research Center (SERC), told Al Jazeera.

“I expect the number to recover back to pre-pandemic levels this year,” Lee said.

In Kuala Lumpur, hoteliers have reported a noticeable uptick in Chinese bookings during the Lunar New Year period and expressed optimism that their numbers will remain strong throughout the year.

Gregory Gubiani, general manager at the five-star Westin Kuala Lumpur, which is popular with Chinese tourists due to its location in the busy Bukit Bintang shopping district, said Chinese arrivals doubled in January 2024 compared with last year.

“There was a high influx of mainland Chinese here at The Westin Kuala Lumpur and its vicinity recently during the Lunar New Year period,” Gubiani told Al Jazeera, explaining that guests typically stayed 2-3 nights at about 600 ringgit ($127) per room per night.

Gubiani said that although bookings had yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels, the visa-free entry policy would contribute to the “upward trend.”

EQ, another 5-star hotel in the city centre popular with Chinese travellers, also experienced a surge in Chinese arrivals during the Lunar New Year period.

“These numbers are forecasted to remain steady and grow throughout the year. Increased flights from regional centres and larger capacity aeroplanes also play a part in the increasing number of arrivals,” EQ’s general manager Gerard Walker told Al Jazeera.

“The increased number of flights per day in the January to March period also point to Malaysia being an attractive travel prospect, or alternative destination to other, more crowded Southeast Asian destinations.”

Walker said his hotel’s “dynamic mix of guests” includes Chinese coming to Malaysia for luxury shopping and golf, and business guests coming for high-level business meetings.

“The stays are usually part of onward travel to other destinations in Southeast Asia, as part of a longer holiday,” he said.

“Our exchange rate, the cost of dining, the high-value experiences and outstanding appeal of hotels like EQ, makes Malaysia a positive alternative to other overcrowded destinations such as Bangkok.”

Yeah Kim Leng, an economics professor at Sunway University, said that China’s huge middle-class population should be able to sustain the influx into Malaysia despite slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy amid weak consumption, a shrinking population and a property market slump.

“Although a significant number of the middle class have been negatively affected by the slowing economy and property market distress, the sizeable middle-class population coupled with high savings rate will likely sustain China’s outbound tourism that has been eagerly awaited by Malaysia and other countries in the region,” Yeah told Al Jazeera.

Yeah said the scale of outbound travel from China would depend on Beijing’s willingness to provide fiscal support and undertake reforms to encourage a shift away from investment-driven growth towards a consumption-led model.

Malaya’s tourism sector was worth an estimated 251.5 billion ringgit ($53bn), or 14 percent of the gross domestic product in 2022, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia.

Total tourism spending amounted to 92.7 billion ringgit ($19.6bn), of which 33.4 billion ringgit ($7bn), or 36.1 percent, came from foreign tourists.

While China accounted for the third-largest number of tourists, Chinese visitors’ average spending was among the highest for foreign visitors.

Chinese tourists spent an average of 661-768 ringgit ($140-$162) per day in Malaysia between 2017 and 2019, 19 to 72 percent higher than the average tourist, according to research by Hong Leong Investment Bank Research

“Hence, the expected boost in their numbers due to the visa-free initiative could have a significant impact on tourism spending in the country,” Yeah said.