Malaysia expects significant increase in foreign arrivals for 2025

Officials from Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture (MOTAC) expect a significant number of foreign arrivals for this year.

This potential influx will be driven by the increased number of international flights into the country which rose to 3,100 per week, increasing weekly arrivals by up to 620,00 passengers.

According to Nigel Wong, president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA), 2025 has great potential for the travel sector and recent enhancements to the government’s tourism budget will also be of great help.

Wong said: “Given the resources at our disposal, we’re confident about meeting or even exceeding Tourism Malaysia’s set targets.” 

For 2025, the Malaysian government has allocated approximately US$123 million for tourism promotion, as well as related initiatives for Visit Malaysia Year 2026.

The tourism budget covers cultural activities, tourism events, flight access improvements, as well as economic empowerment initiatives involving traditional crafts.

Who’s flown to Malaysia in 2024?

MOTAC and the Malaysian Department of Immigration Department report that Singaporeans made up the bulk of tourist arrivals between January and October 2024, coming in with 7.6 million visitors.

Indonesia came second with more than 3.1 million tourist arrivals.

2024 also saw a significant surge in Chinese tourists to Malaysia, coming in at 2.9 million strong, and marking a 136.5 percent increase from 2023.

India also showed tremendous growth with over 961,000 arrivals, South Korea with 412,000 visitors, and Taiwan with 349,000.

Rethinking strategies

Wong pointed out that Malaysia fell short of its target of five million Chinese tourists for 2024.

This was mostly due to issues regarding flight connectivity, as well as heightened competition throughout Southeast Asia for the booming Chinese tourism market.

Wong, however, noted that Malaysia exceeded its targets for arrivals from India, though he feels that there is still a great deal of potential from the Indian tourism scene.

Potential markets

Dr Angie Ng, president of the Malaysia Inbound Chinese Association remarked: “Chinese tourists are more inclined towards the Ritchie Market, as Free Independent Travellers and in smaller groups. This calls for a review of our tourism policies.”

For her part, Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association president Mint Leong asked relevant authorities to look into the Russian market.

Leong said: “In my view, the market with significant potential right now is Russia. If the Tourism and the Transport ministries can collaborate effectively, chartered flights can be a driving force to stimulate tourism.”

She also noted that increased flexibility in approving chartered flights can not only drive economic growth, but also boost passenger traffic.

Leong further added that policies should be designed to stimulate arrivals from other countries.