GEORGE TOWN, Nov 17 — The number of Chinese tourists visiting Penang recorded a 520.2 per cent increase since 2023, the state legislative assembly heard today.
Penang tourism and creative economy exco Wong Hon Wai said tourist arrivals from China rose from 26,056 between January and September 2023 to 161,599 for the same period this year.
He also said the number of tourists from India jumped by 245.1 per cent, increasing from 5,501 arrivals between January and September 2023 to 18,984 for the same period in 2025.
“The top 10 countries of tourists traveling to Penang are Indonesia, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, India, United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Japan,” he said in reply to an oral question by Batu Lanchang assemblyman Ong Ah Theon (DAP) on tourist arrivals and potential markets to expand on.
Referring to Malaysian Immigration Department data, Wong said tourists from Indonesia topped the list with 284,364 arrivals between January and September this year.
He said the number of Indonesian arrivals rose by about 12.3 per cent compared to 253,307 for the same period in 2023.
He said tourists from China ranked second, while Singaporean arrivals came in third with 116,442 for the same period this year.
He said Singaporean arrivals, however, saw a dip of about 12.2 per cent compared to 132,664 between January and September 2023.
He said arrivals from the remaining top 10 countries saw increases of between 12 per cent and 49.6 per cent.
Wong said the state is exploring opportunities to expand the tourism market in China, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Korea and Japan.
He added that Penang Global Tourism is also strengthening collaborations with airlines and tourism agencies from countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Oman.
“This included participation in international tourism exhibitions such as Arabian Travel Market Dubai and in the last two years, we have launched direct flights from Penang to two cities in West Asia, that is Doha (Qatar) through Qatar Airways and Dubai (UAE) through Flydubai,” he said in reply to another oral question by Pinang Tunggal assemblyman Bukhori Ghazali (PAS).
He said Penang has implemented a digital promotion campaign to highlight its Muslim-friendly accommodations, halal food and family-friendly facilities to attract West Asian tourists.
“The promotional materials was also translated into Arabic language to be shared on social media and popular tourism portals in that region,” he said.
He said Penang will continue promoting its medical tourism sector by collaborating with airlines to ease access for medical tourists from the Asian region.
