KLANG: While the Visit Malaysia 2026 programme is months away, Selangor is already on its Visit Selangor Year 2025, which has been a thumping success.
The state has seen more than four million domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in the first half of this year alone, said state Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim.
He said Selangor’s many attractions and its excellent infrastructure are factors luring in domestic as well as foreign tourists.
The record 4.14 million arrivals was a 13.8% rise compared to the same period in 2024.
“Of this, 72% or 2.97 million people were domestic tourists, while 28% or 1.17 million people were international tourists,’’ said a Tourism Selangor official.
According to the official, the top five domestic arrivals were from Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Perak, Pahang and Penang whilst the top five foreign arrivals were from China, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan and India.
Shopping, accommodation, food and beverage as well as transportation and medical were the top five tourism earners for Selangor.
Ng said Chinese tourists visiting the state liked feasting on durians, shopping and visiting places such as Pulau Ketam in Klang.
“The Singaporeans and Indonesians like going to places such as Sunway Lagoon, the coastal areas in north Selangor, Batu Caves, as well as Pulau Ketam in Klang and the Mah Meri Village in Carey Island,’’ he added.
According to Ng, Japanese tourists enjoyed watching the fireflies in Kuala Selangor as well visiting relatives living and working in Selangor.
“Indian tourists, besides visiting places like Sunway Lagoon and Batu Caves, also booked hotels in Selangor to organise and hold grand lavish weddings with guests from their country flying in to attend,’’ he said.
Ng also said Selangor was attracting more visitors from Taiwan and Australia currently and was organising various interesting activities and attractions to interest tourists from other parts of the world as well.
As for medical tourism, Ng said big scale promotions were being carried out for the past two years to highlight Selangor’s 42 private hospitals and the world-class health services available here.
Selangor, he said, was targeting medical tourists from Indonesia as Malaysia was their destination of choice for second opinions, health screening, cosmetic surgery as well as treatment and surgeries for various ailments.
He said wealthy Indonesians would usually travel in an entourage consisting of their family, caregivers and domestic helpers.
“While seeking treatment or medical consultation, the entire entourage would stay at top hotels, visit tourist attractions and shop,’’ he said.
