SEPANG: The festive sounds of traditional Raya music and fragrant smell of delicacies greeted arriving tourists at both the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) terminals.
Tourism Malaysia hosted the event at the Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 arrival halls, where visitors found themselves enjoying free Raya-themed performances and treats.
Thousands of them also received goodie bags, filled with lemang and dodol, that were personally handed out by Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry secretary-general Datuk Shaharuddin Abu Soho.
Cultural performances, such as Dikir Puteri and appearances by the Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) mascots Wira and Manja, added to the festive atmosphere and gave tourists the warmest possible welcome to the country yesterday.
There were also displays on preparing dodol and lemang for tourists to experience.
“This welcome was meant to introduce international and local tourists to the culture and heritage of Hari Raya festivities and to showcase Malaysia as a hub for such festivities.
“With this, we hoped to display our country’s rich traditions and harmonious multicultural society to more tourists,” Shaharuddin said during a press conference at the one-day event, adding that this was part of VM2026.
He said more than 12,000 goodie bags were handed out in total at KLIA Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, as well as at the Penang International Airport, Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Sabah, and Kuching International Airport in Sarawak yesterday.
Joining Shaharuddin was Tourism Malaysia chairman Datuk Dr Yasmin Mahmood and director-general Datuk Manoharan Periasamy.
Tourism Malaysia also revealed that Malaysia saw a massive 54.4% surge in visitor arrivals in January 2025, reaching 3.8 million visitors, compared to 2024, and a 24.4% increase compared to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.
In a press release after the event yesterday, it also said that Singapore remained the biggest source of visitors to Malaysia, followed by China, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.
Tourism Malaysia also revealed that total visitor receipts reached RM106.78bil in 2024, marking a sizable growth of 43.7% from 2023 and exceeding the levels shown during 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic by 20%.
