Tourism Malaysia says the nationwide Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign should attract around 35.6 million tourists and generate MYR147.1 billion in receipts.

The VM 2026 roadmap is built around three core strategies – creating demand, increasing traffic, and prioritising target markets. Key initiatives include branding and marketing blitz, strategic partnerships for joint promotions/tactical campaigns and market segmentation.

Malaysia’s notable tourism achievements in in Q1 2024 are encouraging, the national tourism agency reported last week. From January to March, Malaysia attracted 5.8 million visitors, representing a remarkable growth of 32.5% compared to 4.3 million during the same quarter last year.

The top 10 markets contributing to this success were Singapore, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Brunei, India, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Philippines.

Key target markets are prioritised into three tiers, led by first-level priorities such as China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia. The second-level priorities include South Korea, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the United Kingdom, followed by third-level priorities comprising Chinese Taipei and Germany. Apart from traditional markets such as Brunei, Thailand and Singapore, the focus is also on emerging markets like Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, tourism products and travel experiences will be tailored for niche segments like nature-based tourism, experiential tourism, medical and wellness tourism, responsible tourism, luxury, weddings, Muslim-friendly and gastronomy travel.

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture YB Dato Sri Tiong King Sing said: “Our multipronged VM 2026 strategy provides a comprehensive framework to boost Malaysia’s visibility, enhance destination accessibility and elevate our tourism offerings. Through focused efforts and strategic collaborations, we are confident of achieving our yearly arrivals and target receipts in the run-up to VM 2026.”