The Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) and its theme, theme “Surreal Experiences” is an initiative to boost domestic tourism and generate wider economic benefits. It aims to attract 43 million visitors and generate RM329bil in tourism receipts or 15.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026 compared to 2025’s target (43 million visitors and RM216bil tourism receipts or 10.7% of GDP). The target for 2025 is achievable as total number of visitors have reached 38.3 million (24 million tourists) in the first eleven months of 2025. (Unless some untoward incident like Covid occurs)
VM2026 marks the fifth campaign since the first Visit Malaysia Year was launched in 1990 (1994, 2007, 2014). In preparing for VM2026, expenditure allocations for the tourism sector amounted to RM400mil in Budget 2025 and over RM700mil in Budget 2026, including RM500mil for the VM2026 campaign.
Source https://rai.malaysia.gov.my/visit
Past Visit Malaysia Year campaigns have successfully boosted the tourism sector. It not only reflected in higher international tourists and tourists’ receipts but also generated significant positive impact on domestic tourism as Malaysians also made trips to tourist attractions.
The
domestic tourism sector is one of the major economic engines of the Malaysian
economy.
Post the Covid-19 pandemic recovery, total value-added output (both direct and indirect) of the tourism sector had rebounded and surpassed pre-pandemic levels in 2018-2019.
It generated an average of RM281.9bil per year in 2023 to 2024 or an average share 15% of total GDP (an average of RM230.2bil per year or 15.5% of GDP in 2018 to 2019). Tourism employment made up 21.6% of total employment or 3.5 million persons in 2024.
The sector is also a major foreign exchange earner, generating RM81.7bil per year in 2023 to 2024 (an average share of 4.3% of GDP) compared to RM80.7bil per year in 2018 to 2019 (an average share of 5.4% of GDP). In January to September last year, tourism’s foreign exchange earnings amounted to RM79.4bil or 5.3% of GDP. The tourism sector’s value-added output has demonstrated robustness, growing by 13.8% per annum in 2022 to 2024, higher than 9.7% per annum in 2015 to 2019. The strong recovery was in line with the global trends, driven by pent-up demand, visa-free facilities, improved connectivity, and strategic promotions.
Overall, although the average length of stay per tourist in Malaysia was lower at 5.1 nights in 2024 (an average of 6.2 nights in 2015 to 2019), expenditure per capita has increased.
In 2015 to 2024, within the tourists coming from the Middle-East, the United Arab Emirates has emerged top in expenditure per capita (plus 5.4% per annum to RM12,299 in 2024 versus RM7,637 in 2015). Within the grouping of Americas, Europe and Oceania, tourists from the United Kingdom have the highest spending per capita (plus 5.3% per annum to RM7,039 in 2024 vs. 2015: RM4,404). In Asia, China tourists had recorded higher expenditure per capita (plus 7% per annum to RM6,291 in 2024 versus RM3,419 in 2015). Within Asean, Philippines tourists’ expenditure per capita increased by 5% per annum to RM4,321 in 2024 compared to RM2,783 in 2015.
By tourists’ expenditure component in 2024, shopping continued to be the largest expenditure category (RM37bil or 36.1% of total spending), followed by accommodation (RM19.3bil or 18.1%), food and beverage (RM16.2bil or 15.9%), purchases of international airfares (RM8.7bil or 8.5% of total), local transportation (5.7%), and medical tourism (4.7%).
Airports are crucial tourist touchpoints. Digital tools can optimise airport passengers’ experience monitoring using real-time data from artificial intelligence, sensors, and social media to track movement, measure wait times, manage queues, and optimise staffing. The government has rolled out digital immigration facilitation through the minimize app, expanded auto gate access, and the Advance Passenger Screening System adoption to improve processing speed and visitor experience. To strengthen hotel-tourist connections, focus on personalisation, seamless technology, proactive communication, and local integration from pre-arrival to post-stay. If we work on seamless service from arrival to departure it will be a surreal experience for tourists.
Reference:
VM2026 marks a step forward for tourism growth, Lee Heng Guie, The Star, 26 Jan 2026
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