KUALA LUMPUR: The tourism sector's rebound continued to drive Malaysia's economic growth, with travel receipts rising from RM95.4bil in 2024 to RM110.6bil in 2025, supported by higher foreign visitor arrivals.
According to the Finance Ministry’s Economic Outlook 2027 released on Friday (Oct 9), foreign visitor arrivals rose 11.2% to 42.2 million in 2025, while the travel component emerged as the largest contributor to service exports, accounting for 39.8% of the total.
The industry, which returned to pre-pandemic levels in the same year, contributed 15.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and supported about 3.7 million jobs or 22.1% of total employment.
It also indicated that services exports grew 15.6% to RM277.9bil in the same year, while services imports rose at a more moderate pace of 7.7% to RM272.6bil, enabling Malaysia to record a services trade surplus of RM5.3bil in 2025, its first surplus since 2011, compared with a deficit of RM12.6bil in 2024.
Meanwhile, an assessment by the ministry showed that every RM10bil in foreign visitors' spending could generate an additional RM6.8bil for the economy, resulting in RM16.8bil in total gross output across 27 industries
"Primary tourism-facing industries generate the highest output totalling RM11.4bil, mainly in the transportation and storage, restaurants, accommodation, and wholesale and retail trade," according to the report.
However, increasing visitor numbers is not enough to ensure the sector continues to deliver optimal returns to the economy, particularly amid market uncertainties and growing competition from regional destinations.
The report said greater emphasis should be placed on increasing visitor spending and length of stay, while attracting high-value segments including luxury tourism, healthcare tourism, ecotourism and business events.
These efforts need support from better connectivity, including direct flights, quality investments in tourism infrastructure and facilities, talent development, digitalisation, and sustainable tourism practices.
The Visit Malaysia 2026-2027 (VM2026-2027) campaign is among the strategies to leverage recovery momentum to generate greater economic value and develop a resilient and sustainable tourism sector over the long term. - Bernama
