Southeast Asia's most visited country sees tourist arrivals up 20% from Jan to May

About half of Malaysia's total international tourist arrivals during the first five months of the year were from neighboring Singapore with 8.34 million visitors, followed by Indonesia at 1.82 million, China at 1.81 million, and Thailand at 1.06 million, the tourism ministry said in a written parliamentary reply on Monday.

Arrivals from "long-haul markets" such as Australia and the United Kingdom also saw increases of 16.6% and 8.7% respectively, compared to the same period in 2024, the ministry added.

"This increase in foreign visitor numbers clearly reflects the effectiveness of various initiatives implemented by the government through strategic approaches, progressive policies such as the visa liberalization plan, and support and incentives given to industry players," the ministry said.

The Southeast Asian country recorded just over 25 million international tourist arrivals in 2024, falling short of its 27.3 million target.

In the first quarter of this year Malaysia had led Southeast Asia with 10.1 million tourist arrivals, followed by Thailand with 9.55 million, Vietnam with six million, and Singapore with 4.3 million.

Malaysia is targeting 47 million international tourist arrivals in 2026, with a focus on key markets such as Central Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Oceania, the tourism ministry said.