Tourism in Malaysia


Life in Malaysia
Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur
Teluk Cempedak Beach, Kuantan
South Beach, Perhentian Besar
Bird's-eye view of Kuching, Sarawak.

Malaysia is a country in South-East Asia, located partly on a peninsula of the Asian mainland and partly on the northern third of the island of Borneo. West Malaysia shares a border with Thailand, is connected by a causeway and a bridge (Malaysia-Singapore Second Link) to the island state of Singapore, and has coastlines on the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. East Malaysia (Borneo) shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia.

The country is ranked as the 9th most visited place in the world.[1]

In an effort to diversify the economy and make Malaysia’s economy less dependent on exports the government has pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. As a result tourism has become Malaysia’s third largest source of income from foreign exchange,[2] and accounted for 7% of Malaysia's economy as of 2005.[3]

The government agency in charge of promoting tourism in Malaysia is Tourism Malaysia or the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB). On 20 May 1987, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) was established and TDC moved to this new ministry. TDC existed from 1972 to 1992, when it became the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), through the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act, 1992. Its vision is to make the tourism industry a prime contributor to the socio-economic development of the nation, and aims to market Malaysia as a premier destination of excellence in the region. Tourism Malaysia now has 34 overseas and 11 marketing representative offices.

In 1999, Malaysia launched a worldwide marketing campaign called "Malaysia, Truly Asia" which was largely successful in bringing in over 7.4 million tourists.[4] The extra revenue recently generated by tourism helped the country’s economy during the economic crisis of 2008. However, it is mainly Malaysia’s heavy government regulation of the economy which enabled it to be barely affected by the recent 2008 global economic crisis.[5] In recent years tourism has been threatened by the negative effects of the growing industrial economy. Due to the large amounts of air and water pollution along with deforestation, tourism has decreased in affected areas.[6]


Government policy

The Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) was established in 1987 under which the TDC was incorporated. TDC existed from 1972 to 1992, when it became the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), through the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act, 1992.[7] Tourism Malaysia aims to market Malaysia as a premier destination of excellence in the region.

Tourist arrivals in Malaysia 2014

In 2014, Malaysia recorded 27,437,315 tourist arrivals;[8] a growth of 6.7% compared to 2013. Total tourist receipts increased by 3.9%, generating MYR 60.6 billion.[9] United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) listed Malaysia as the 10th most visited country in 2012.[10]

Rank Country Visitors Total of Tourist Arrivals(%)
1 Singapore 13,932,967 51.99
2 Indonesia 2,827,533 9.52
3 China 1,613,355 6.23
4 Thailand 1,299,298 5.05
5 Brunei1,213,110 5.03
6 India 770,108 2.76
7 Philippines 618,538 2.03
8 Australia 571,328 2.03
9 Japan 553,106 1.88
10 United Kingdom 445,789 1.61

Top 15 arrivals by nationality[11]

Rank Country or territory 2014 2013 2012
1  Singapore 13,932,967 13,178,774 13,014,268
2  Indonesia 2,382,606 2,548,021 2,382,606
3  China 1,613,355 1,791,423 1,558,785
4  Thailand 1,299,298 1,156,452 1,263,024
5  Brunei 1,213,110 1,238,871 1,258,070
6  India 770,108 650,989 691,271
7  Philippines 618,538 557,147 508,744
8  Australia 571,328 526,342 507,948
9  Japan 553,106 513,076 470,008
10  United Kingdom 445,789 413,472 402,207
11  South Korea 385,769 274,622 283,977
12  United States 262,106 246,936 240,134
13  Vietnam 285,716 235,700 211,008
14  Taiwan 274,665 286,266 242,519
15  Bangladesh 204,418 134,663 86,465

Nationalisation of Malaysia Airlines

The tourism industry came under some pressure in 2014 when the national carrier Malaysia Airlines had one of its planes disappear in March of that year, while another was brought down by a missile over Ukraine in July, resulting in the loss of a total 537 passengers and crew. The state of the company, which had been unprofitable for 3 years, prompted the government in August 2014 to nationalise the airline by buying up the 30 per cent it did not already own.[12]

Destinations and attractions

Cities

Beside the main cities, there other town and places in Malaysia offer some special tourist attraction. Such as in Taiping, Perak for their landscape and local attraction. Teluk Intan for their Leaning tower. Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands and Bukit Tinggi in Pahang for a cool climate. Muar in Johor is famous for its food. Miri is the official tourism-city and resort city of Sarawak and Sibu in Sarawak is famous for its landscape and parks.

Islands and beaches

Sapi Island from one of Kota Kinabalu numerous beaches. Sapi Island is included in the Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park.

Malaysia has several tropical islands, some of which have been voted the most beautiful in the world. Some of the islands in Malaysia are:

National parks and nature reserves

Other places of interest

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://travel-to-malaysia.com/malaysia-is-ninth-most-visited-in-the-world-in-unwto-list/
  2. ↑ Munan, Heidi. Malaysia. New York: Benchmark Books, 2002. pp. 28.
  3. ↑ "M'sia is ninth most visited in the world in UNWTO list". The Star. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  4. ↑ Munan, Heidi. Malaysia. New York: Benchmark Books, 2002. pp. 29.
  5. ↑ Warshaw, Steven, and A. J. Tudisco. Southeast Asia Emerges; a Concise History of Southeast Asia from Its Origin to the Present. [Berkeley, Calif.]: Diablo, 1975. Print. pp. 77.
  6. ↑ Munan, Heidi. Malaysia. New York: Benchmark Books, 2002. pp. 36–37.
  7. ↑ "Tourism Malaysia About Us". Tourism.gov.my. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  8. ↑ http://corporate.tourism.gov.my/images/research/pdf/2014/arrival/Tourist_Arrivals_Dec_2014.pdf
  9. ↑ http://dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net/sites/all/files/pdf/malaysia_country_report_2014.pdf
  10. ↑ http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2013/08/06/Malaysia-is-10th-most-visited-country.aspx
  11. ↑ http://corporate.tourism.gov.my/research.asp?page=facts_figures "Fact and figure, 2012–2014". Department of Malaysia tourism. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "State investment firm keen to acquire Malaysia Airlines". Malaysia Sun. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  13. ↑ Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary (Temerloh), Tourism Pahang.
  14. ↑ Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary, Endemic Guides.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Malaysia.