THE best indicators of how well domestic and inbound tourism are performing are by visitor numbers and tourism expenditures. Over the years, these figures were regularly posted by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) and Tourism Malaysia (TM) in their websites.
The annual Domestic Tourism Surveys (DTS) were consistently released at the end of every June, and tourist arrival figures from the top 40 countries were usually posted by TM on a quarterly basis and six months after the last quarter posting.
For many years, I regularly checked for the latest “Malaysia tourist arrivals by country”, and my comments would be written and sent to the media for publication. DOSM was very professional as impending reports would be announced in advance and released on the scheduled dates.
From 2021, instead of releasing the annual DTS in June the following year, DOSM switched to posting the surveys earlier on a quarterly basis. By Dec 18 this year, the performance of domestic tourism for the third quarter had already been published.
On the other hand, TM switched to “Visitor Performance to Malaysia” with the latest posting still showing figures from Jan-Apr.
At the end of May, figures from Jan-Mar were posted, and later until April. After that, there was no further update. And we are now approaching the end of the year.
With no new inbound figures available, the comments below are limited to domestic tourism. There were 69.7m, 73.8m, and 72.6m domestic visitors for the first, second, and third quarter respectively, with a monthly average of 24 million.
If the average number is the same for the last quarter, then the total for the year would be 288 million domestic visitors. In comparison, there were 239 million domestic visitors in 2019, the year before the pandemic.
DOSM identified that there were 25.2m, 27.4m, and 26.7m domestic tourists in the first, second, and third quarter respectively. The rest of the visitors were excursionists who did not spend overnight away from home and were on a day trip, returning home the same day.
Tourists are vital for paid accommodation suppliers such as licensed hotels and short-term rental accommodation (STRA) providers. But the majority of domestic tourists stay at free accommodation provided by family members, relatives, and friends.
Hence, tourism expenditure is more important than headcounts. Domestic visitors, which include tourists and excursionists, spent RM29.4b, RM29.2b, and RM29.8b in the first, second, and third quarter respectively, with a monthly average of RM9.8 billion.
If the average expenditure is the same for the last quarter, then the total for the year would be RM117.8 bil. In comparison, domestic tourism expenditure in 2019 was RM103.2 bil. While domestic tourism has clearly done well, as supported by figures, inbound tourism appears to be murky.
Figures released by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture have been limited to visitor arrivals without tourist arrival numbers. For many years, only tourist arrival figures were posted in “Malaysia tourist arrivals from the top 40 countries”. In later years, a separate table was added for excursionist arrivals.
In any case, both tourist arrivals and excursionist arrivals were obtained from the Immigration Department.
As the system is computerised, the figures can be totaled up at the press of a few buttons after the end of each month. It remains a mystery why arrival numbers are released many months later.
Many countries (and also Sabah and Sarawak), release visitor or tourist arrival figures early, which helps industry players to know better how well inbound tourism is performing.
If this remains an assumption, how ready are we for Visit Malaysia 2026, which is just a week away?
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT,
- Focus Malaysia.
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