ALOR SETAR: Langkawi is showing an upward trend in tourism each year and is not experiencing a downturn, says Kedah tourism, culture and entrepreneurship committee chairman Datuk Mohd Salleh Saidin.
In a statement on Monday (May 4), he said claims that tourism in Langkawi is declining due to the Kedah government are untrue.
"A quick check with the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) website will show a complete monthly arrival graph.
"Based on official Lada statistics, since 2022 there has not been a decline in the number of tourists visiting Langkawi but a steady increase.
He said that in 2021, when the country was still dealing with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Langkawi recorded 1,093,937 tourist arrivals.
He added that the number rose to 2,581,605 in 2022, increased to 2,810,322 in 2023 and reached 2,904,629 in 2024.
"In 2025, in conjunction with Visit Kedah Year 2025, the official figure recorded jumped to 3,215,730 visitors," he said.
Mohd Salleh was responding to remarks by Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, who said Kedah’s failure to govern had caused a sharp decline in foreign and domestic tourists in Langkawi.
"I urge her to check her facts first before making a public statement.
"It is not difficult to check as the statistics are easily available on our Lada website.
"It is a Federal Government agency responsible for the development and tourism in Langkawi, which means the figures issued by Lada do not come from the Kedah government," he said.
Mohd Salleh said such allegations create a negative perception not grounded in facts.
"Kedah ranked fifth highest in Malaysia for domestic and international tourism in 2024, with a total of 6.9 million tourists based on official figures from the Statistics Malaysia Department.
"While we are still waiting for the official figures for 2025, unofficially we expect the number of tourists here to continuously increase to over seven million people.
"I urge you to check these facts and be mindful before sharing such statements," he said.
On Sunday (May 3), Kok said in a social media post that Langkawi’s tourism industry has been "sluggish" since PAS took over Kedah.
In the same post, Kok, commenting on PAS and Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh’s criticism of a recent music festival, called on him to stop protesting and present constructive proposals to attract foreign tourists and stimulate the local economy ahead of Visit Malaysia 2026.
She claimed PAS’ record in tourism was worrying, alleging that governance failures had led to a decline in tourists and could affect Malaysia’s image and economy.
