KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 – Malaysia received 5.8 million foreign tourists from January to March this year, which was a growth of 32.5 per cent compared to 4.3 million for the same period last year.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said the top ten tourist-generating markets for Malaysia were Singapore, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Brunei, India, South Korea, Australia, the United Kingdom and the Philippines.
“Besides that, from January to April 2024, Malaysia also received chartered flights from Nanjing, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Chongqing, Xi’an, Shenyang, Nanchang and Guangzhou, totalling 22 charted flights every week from the said cities with an estimated 3,600 passengers arriving per week.
“As of the latest, we have 15 new additional routes, including Wuhan to Kuala Lumpur, Ahmeddabad to Kuala Lumpur, Incheon to Kota Kinabalu and Almaty to Kuala Lumpur,” he said while delivering his speech at Tourism Malaysia’s networking session on the strategic direction towards VMY2026, on Tuesday.
He added that the 30-day visa exemption for tourists from China and India as a part of the visa liberalisation plan has also been proven to boost tourist arrivals in Malaysia.
