Tourism and visitor economy
Tourism is the third biggest contributor to Malaysia’s GDP, after manufacturing and commodities. In 2018, this sector contributed around 5.9 percent to the total GDP. In recent years, the tourism industry in Southeast Asia had experienced significant growth, and Malaysia is keen to capitalize on this trend. The “Visit Truly Asia Malaysia 2020” campaign was launched in the hopes of reaching the ambitious targets of 30 million visitors and 100 billion Malaysian ringgit in tourism receipts for 2020.
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Tourism and visitor economy
Malaysia had been experiencing negative year-on-year growth in visitor arrivals since 2017, which coincided with a stagnation of the tourism receipts between the years 2016 to 2018. This was mostly due to a decrease in visitor arrival numbers from Singapore, which remained Malaysia’s top tourist market. Even so, Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur ranked amongst the top ten most popular city destinations for overnight travelers worldwide in 2018. In that year, the international visitor spending in Kuala Lumpur also reached a nine-year high.
Hotel-Motel (Lodging) Tax
The number of hotels in the country have gradually risen over the past 10 years till 2017. Data from the National Property Information Centre (Napic) showed that the existing supply of hotels as at end-2017 was a total of 3,126 hotels (246,564 rooms), which was an addition of 247 hotels or 8.58% growth from 2,879 hotels (212,437 rooms) in the previous year. as of August 1, 2017, and will be in addition to the taxes and fees normally charged by hotels in Malaysia, which typically include a 6% tax and 10% service charge.
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Ecotourism
Malaysia has ancient rainforests, critically endangered primates and countless endemic species.
Over 15,000 types of plants, flowers and trees grow inside 130-million-year-old rainforests. Almost extinct Sumatran rhinos and critically endangered orangutans live inside the protected jungles.
Endless fields of corals thrive in marine parks where millions of tropical fish call home.
Green and Hawksbill turtles nest along parts of Malaysia’s thousands of kilometers of coastline.
Ecosystems thrive in environments from primary rainforest to mangrove swamp to mountaintop habitats.
Malaysia is a haven for ecotourists in Southeast Asia.
The Crazy Tourist uncovers the 25 best ecotourism experiences in Malaysia for wildlife, trekking and diving.
