PETALING JAYA: All signs are pointing to a successful Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) so far - hotel guests are staying longer, while Kuala Lumpur is the eighth most popular city globally among travellers for two years in a row.
Our capital city ranked eighth on a list for the most popular cities that international travellers plan to visit between January and March this year, based on flight booking data from travel service provider, Trip.com Group.
Topping the list for this year was Tokyo in Japan, followed by Seoul in South Korea and Bangkok in Thailand.
Top attractions in Malaysia booked on Trip.com by international tourists for the first three months of 2026 include tickets for the Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park, KL Hop-On Hop-Off bus tours, and a concert by Chinese band Miserable Faith in Kuala Lumpur.
“This reflects global trends towards immersive, entertainment-led travel, as theme parks, concerts and immersive shows were the most sought-after attraction types,” Thong said when contacted.
Tourists are spending more time
Hotel guests are also staying longer in our country, according to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
From an average length of stay of 3.8 days in 2022, this has stretched to 5.1 days in 2024.
However, such a period has yet to catch up with the pre-pandemic level of 7.4 days in 2019.
There was a lull during the movement control order (MCO) to curb Covid-19 between March 2020 and April 2022, as shown in the graph below.
On the longer period of stay, hotel operators agree that tourists are staying more days, thanks to Malaysia being an affordable destination.
“Malaysia’s affordability compared to competing destinations makes longer stays more financially viable,” said Malaysia Budget and Business Hotel Association (MyBHA) national president Dr Sri Ganesh Michiel.
He said the rise of remote and hybrid work arrangements has also enabled travellers to combine business with leisure, allowing them to stay longer while working remotely.
“The longer stays are also due to improved regional connectivity and stronger domestic transportation networks now encourage multi-destination itineraries within Malaysia.
“Travellers are no longer visiting just one city but exploring multiple cities in a single trip, combining urban centres, islands, highlands and heritage towns,” said Sri Ganesh, who is also Malaysian Tourism Federation president.
There has also been growth in segments such as medical tourism, digital nomads, education-related travel, corporate training programmes and small business engagements, leading to extended durations.
Overall in Malaysia, the number of international hotel guests went up by 4.5%, according to Tourism Malaysia.
Some 27.15 million foreign hotel guests stayed in our country between January and September last year - up from 25.99 million in the same period.
Kuala Lumpur had the biggest share or 35.3% of international hotel guests with 9.6 million, followed by Selangor with 2.71 million guests and Penang with 2.6 million.
Based on Trip.com Group’s hotel bookings, international travellers tend to choose budget-friendly accommodation - most or 36% choose three-star or lower hotels.
“This is followed closely by four-star hotels (35%) and five-star hotels (20%), suggesting a diverse mix of tourists visiting Malaysia,” said Thong.
Drawn to KL’s charms
On the secret to Kuala Lumpur’s popularity, Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) president Datin Christina Toh said the city was a food haven while offering a diverse melting pot of cultures.
She said there has been a spike in international tourists due to more flights and increased accessibility.
“Such has opened up more options for Kuala Lumpur to be a gateway for stopovers and connections,” she said.
To maintain the momentum of VM2026, Toh said hotels are introducing competitive pricing, while complementing the overall tourist experience by offering diverse cultural experiences with urban, heritage and rural elements.
Singaporean tourists continue to top the list of international arrivals in Malaysia over the years, as shown in the chart here:
While Singapore, Indonesia, and China remain top tourist markets, MyBHA’s Sri Ganesh said industry players are seeing encouraging growth from India, South Korean, Middle Eastern markets and Australia.
“India, in particular, has shown strong momentum due to improved air connectivity and visa facilitation measures.
He said MyBHA members had experienced a bigger flow of tourists in major cities like Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Penang and Johor Baru.
“However, while arrival numbers are improving, the industry needs a stronger conversion of these visitors into nationwide hotel stays.
“VM2026 must translate into broader dispersion of tourists across states and into regulated accommodation sectors,” he said, adding that some travellers were opting for unlicensed short-term rental accommodations.
To attract more tourists, Sri Ganesh said budget and business hotels are strengthening digital presence through online travel agencies and direct booking engines.
“We are also offering experiential packages in collaboration with local tour operators.
“Other efforts include targeting niche segments such as medical tourism, sports tourism, eco-tourism, and long-stay travellers,” he said.
