PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s tourist arrivals have exceeded expectations, prompting the government to consider revising its targets under Visit Malaysia 2026 and intensifying global promotional efforts.
The Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said the original target for Visit Malaysia 2026 was 35.6 million arrivals. However, the country already recorded 38 million visitors in 2024.
By December 2025, arrivals reached 42 million — just shy of the 2026 target of 43 million.
“This has created new challenges for us, but it also shows that promotion works,” he said after launching the strategic cooperation between Tourism Malaysia and Oriental Kopi for the “Rasa Malaysia” promotion in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2026 yesterday (Jan 21).
He added that tourism receipts reached RM291 billion last year, highlighting the sector’s growing contribution to the national economy.
To sustain the momentum, Tiong said the ministry has instructed Tourism Malaysia to step up worldwide promotional activities, focusing on high-spending markets such as China, Singapore, Asean countries and Europe.
“China is a very large market. When we conduct missions there, many people only know Kuala Lumpur and Sabah. Other destinations remain unfamiliar, so continued promotion is crucial,” he said.
Tiong also said Malaysia is targeting second-tier cities in China by working closely with airlines to reduce transit times, which previously discouraged travellers.
“In the past, transit times could take three to five hours. With airline cooperation, this has been reduced to about one hour, making Malaysia a more attractive destination,” he said.
He added that rising tourist arrivals would benefit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and support broader economic growth, stressing the importance of cooperation from the media and the public to sustain tourism growth.
