In 2019, Malaysia recorded a growth of 2.4 per cent to RM86.14 billion in tourist receipts from RM84.1 billion in the previous year and welcomed another one per cent growth in  international tourists to 26.1 billion with respect to the 25.83 previously.

The Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (Tourism Malaysia) said during the year, per capita expenditure rose by 1.3 per cent to RM3,300 from RM3,257, while the Average Length of Stay (ALOS) climbed by 0.9 nights to 7.4 nights compared with 6.5 nights previously.

Tourist arrivals growth was seen in South Asia at 22.2 per cent, followed by East Asia (5.9 per cent), Americas (4.3 per cent), and Europe (0.3 per cent).However, tourist arrivals from the Asean and West Asian markets declined 1.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.

Top ten international tourist arrivals were from Singapore (10,163,882), Indonesia (3,623,277), China (3,114,257), Thailand (1,884,306), Brunei (1,216,123), India (735,309), South Korea (673,065), Japan (424,694), the Philippines (421,908), and Vietnam (400,346).

Of overall tourist expenditure, the Asean region remained the biggest contributor at RM43.72 billion.

West Asian tourists recorded the highest per capita expenditure at RM10,214, an increase of 2.7 per cent compared with RM9,947 in 2018.

The top three distribution of tourist receipts went to shopping at 33.6 per cent, accommodation (24 per cent) and food and beverages (13.3 per cent).

“Once again, shopping receipts exceeded that of accommodation, growing from a 33.4 per cent share in 2018 to 33.6 per cent share in 2019,” said Tourism Malaysia.

Meanwhile, markets showing increase in average lengths of stay included West Asia (9.8 nights), Europe (8.8 nights), Americas (8.2 nights), East Asia (6.5 nights), South Asia (6.4 nights), and Asean (4.9 nights).