Balik kampung was how Malaysians traditionally do festive travel, but in recent years there’s been a trend of taking holiday trips instead during festive periods.
The trips can be either domestic or international, taken by friends and families who want to host their reunions at a holiday destination.
According to Airbnb, searches during January to December 2025 by Malaysians for check-ins during Ramadan (Feb 18-20) grew by more than 200% year-on-year. Meanwhile, searches during the same period for Hari Raya travels (March 20-22) grew by almost 50%.
Those who opt for international trips typically choose Japan’s Tokyo and Osaka or Australia’s Perth. When it comes to domestic destinations, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru (Johor), Ipoh (Perak) and Melaka are the top choices.
For Hari Raya specifically, the most-searched states are Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Perak.
The recent Chinese New Year also saw travels to Kuching (Sarawak) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah).
Across the three festive celebrations, group and family travels accounted for more than 80% of the searches. There is also an approximately 95% increase in searches for entire homes.
Trip.com Group data reflects similar findings for Chinese New Year, with Kuching and KK being among the top cities for domestic flight bookings. These also include KL, JB and Penang.
There was a shift in planning behaviour, too. In the previous year, most bookings were done within two months of travel. But this time, half of domestic bookings were made over 60 days in advance.
For international trips, most Malaysians opted to travel to neighbouring Singapore and Bangkok (Thailand) during Chinese New Year. Indonesia, Japan and China were also among the popular destinations.
As for inbound visits, there was a 33% year-on-year increase in travel bookings. KL remains top choice for tourists, with the capital city recording double-digit booking growth. Among the top attractions booked by tourists were KL Hop-on Hop-off and the PETRONAS Twin Towers.
Other destinations across Malaysia that also drew interests were Langkawi (Kedah), Johor, Genting Highlands (Pahang) and Penang. Langkawi SkyCab, Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park and Penang History Gallery were among the top attractions booked by inbound visitors.
