KUALA LUMPUR: Tourism Malaysia faces an uphill task to achieve its target of 47 million international visitor arrivals this year, with its latest projections pointing to a shortfall amid disruptions caused by the Iran war.
Tourism Malaysia director-general Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim said visitor arrivals had been below target since March, prompting the agency to intensify promotional efforts and explore additional ways to attract travellers during the year-end holiday season.
“Without the Iran war, I can say we can achieve the 47 million target. But since March, our arrivals have been below target, and our current projections are still below what we had hoped for. We are working harder to attract more visitors, especially during the winter holiday season,” he told SunBiz in an interview.
He said Tourism Malaysia was stepping up efforts to stimulate travel demand through events and concerts, strengthen airline connectivity and expand into new source markets, as it seeks to narrow the gap against its annual target.
“We are looking at bringing in more events and concerts, working with airlines to improve connectivity, and tapping new source markets such as Algeria.”
The agency is also looking to capitalise on the winter holiday period, when travellers plan overseas trips, by improving access to Malaysia and broadening its reach beyond established markets.
Malaysia recorded 28.8 million international visitors between January and August 2026, up 1.8% year-on-year.
To achieve the 47 million target, the country would need 18.2 million more arrivals in the final four months of the year, equivalent to an average of 4.55 million a month. This compares with the monthly average of 3.6 million recorded during the first eight months.
Mohd Amirul Rizal said attracting visitors from a wider range of markets and improving air connectivity would be important to the agency’s efforts to lift arrivals. “We are looking at new airlines and new markets. For example, Zipair from Japan is coming in with 296 seats, and we are also looking at markets such as Algeria.”
The strategy is intended to give travellers more options for reaching Malaysia while reducing reliance on established source markets.
The government announced RM935 million for tourism and culture under Budget 2027. The allocation covers the broader tourism and culture sector and should not be interpreted as funding allocated exclusively to Tourism Malaysia.
“The available resources would be used prudently to sustain tourism growth and support businesses across the industry, including hotels, travel agents, airlines, tour guides, restaurants and small food and beverage operators,“ Mohd Amirul Rizal said.
The broader industry support is significant because tourism spending flows beyond accommodation and transport to smaller businesses that provide food, travel services and other visitor experiences.
Budget 2027 includes measures to support tourism promotion, upgrade tourism facilities and strengthen international connectivity.
The expanded International and Charter Flight Matching Grant is intended to support new direct routes from markets including China, India, Central Asia and Europe. Its scope also covers cruise ships, ferries and tour buses bringing international visitors to Malaysia.
These measures are intended to improve access to the country and help tourism businesses capture demand from overseas markets.
Mohd Amirul Rizal said smaller tourism businesses could obtain government grant support to participate in overseas promotional activities, either independently or in collaboration with Tourism Malaysia and state tourism agencies.
He said eligible expenses could be claimed back under the arrangements, helping smaller operators participate in international marketing activities and reach potential customers beyond Malaysia.
“This support allows smaller businesses that may not have the resources to organise overseas promotions on their own to participate in international marketing activities and reach more potential markets.”
Tourism Malaysia is also working with private sector partners to broaden its international reach and simplify arrangements for tourism-related activities.
On Oct 19, the agency announced a partnership with Berjaya Hospitality Group, which operates hospitality properties in Malaysia and overseas.
Mohd Amirul Rizal said the collaboration could reduce administrative hurdles and make it easier to arrange accommodation for international participants and media attending tourism-related programmes.
He also highlighted opportunities to promote Malaysian products and cuisine through hospitality networks abroad, including showcasing local food such as nasi lemak.
The partnership provides a platform to connect tourism promotion with Malaysia’s food and hospitality offerings, while using the group’s overseas presence to introduce Malaysian products to international audiences.
Tourism Malaysia has also collaborated with digital travel platforms, including AirAsia MOVE and Tripadvisor, to promote Malaysian destinations and experiences to potential travellers.
The AirAsia MOVE partnership includes the Oh Sem Malaysia! campaign, which promotes destinations beyond the country’s main tourism gateways through destination-led promotions and travel offers.
The Tripadvisor collaboration focuses on joint marketing, digital visibility and travel-related insights to support the promotion of Malaysian destinations.
While these partnerships broaden the channels available to Tourism Malaysia, campaign-level figures showing additional bookings, visitor arrivals or tourism receipts attributable to the collaborations were not provided in the interview.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that tourism industry value added reached RM323 billion in 2025, equivalent to 15.9% of gross domestic product, with the sector growing 8.6% year-on-year.
Malaysia’s tourism receipts target for 2026 is RM329 billion, alongside the target of 47 million international visitor arrivals.