Tourism in Malaysia

Tourism in Malaysia is a major industry and contributor to the Malaysian economy. Malaysia was once ranked 9th in the world for tourist arrivals. In 2017, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Malaysia 26 out of 141 countries using its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) which measures the various components and policies of a country that are in place to allow for the sustainable development of its travel and tourism sectors.
In an effort to diversify Malaysia's economy and reduce its dependency on exports, the government pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. This led tourism to become Malaysia's second largest source of foreign exchange income. In 2022, tourism contributed 14% to Malaysia's overall GDP.
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.
In 1990, Malaysia launched a tourism campaign called "Fascinating Malaysia. Year of Festivals" which was considered a success and brought in the arrivals of 7.4 million tourists. Five years later, in 1994, Malaysia launched another campaign themed "Fascinating Malaysia. Naturally More" which welcomed 10.22 million tourists. In 2007, Malaysia launched its most notable tourism campaign titled "Malaysia Truly Asia". This campaign was launched in conjunction with Malaysia's 50th year of independence and was heavily promoted and advertised. It exceeded expectations and was a massive success, chartering the arrivals of 20.97 million tourists.
Kuala Lumpur was ranked the 6th most-visited city in the world on the Mastercard Destination Cities Index in 2019. Since the 1990s, the city has played host to many international sporting, political and cultural events, including the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championships, 1998 Commonwealth Games, 2001 Southeast Asian Games, and 2017 Southeast Asian Games. Kuala Lumpur has undergone rapid development in recent decades and is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Towers which have since become an iconic symbol of Malaysian development. Kuala Lumpur is well connected with neighboring urban metro regions such as Greater Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley via the rapidly expanding Klang Valley Integrated Transit System.
There are many tourist attractions outside of the city, spread across Greater Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley area which has hosted various major national and international events, from man-made attractions to natural attractions such as mountainous landscapes, hills, and rice fields.
These three places are hill station located in the Titiwangsa Mountains, Pahang, central Peninsular Malaysia, at 800 m (2,600 ft) to1,800 m (5,900 ft) elevation. It was primary tourist attraction in the state, especially Genting Highlands, a hill resort where casinos and theme parks are situated and where gambling is permitted.
Both two cities and states is the country's UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 7 July 2008.
Malacca City is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Malacca. It is the oldest Malaysian city on the Straits of Malacca, it is located along the Maritime Silk Road having become a successful entrepôt in the era of the Malacca Sultanate. The economy of Malacca City is largely based on tourism. Among the tourist attractions in Malacca City are Porta de Santiago, Jonker Walk, Little India, Portuguese Settlement, Stadthuys, Maritime Museum, Christ Church, Malacca Sultanate Palace Museum, Taming Sari Tower and Malacca River Cruise with evening cruises along the Malacca River.
There are also the Melaka Wonderland, a 9.2-hectares wide water theme park and resort in Ayer Keroh, Malacca, which features 16 attractions. Not far away, Malaysia Heritage Studios, a cultural theme park which was divided into two sections – the Mini Malaysia section, showcases the traditional houses from every state in Malaysia and the Mini ASEAN section, showcases the traditional houses from every member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The duty-free island and an archipelago of 99 islands (plus five small islands visible only at low tide in the Strait of Malacca) located some 30 km off the coast of northwestern Kedah, Malaysia. This tourist island can be reached via Langkawi International Airport or ferry from Kuala Kedah. On 1 June 2007, Langkawi Island was given a World Geopark status by UNESCO. Three of its main conservation areas in Langkawi Geopark are Machincang Cambrian Geoforest Park, Kilim Karst Geoforest Park, and Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest park (Island of the Pregnant Maiden Lake). These three parks are the most popular tourism area within Langkawi Geopark.
Beside the main cities, there other town and places in Malaysia offer some special tourist attraction. Such as in Taiping for their landscape and local attraction. Teluk Intan for their Leaning tower. Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands, Bukit Tinggi in Pahang and Kundasang in Sabah 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.
Malaysia has several tropical islands. Some of the islands in Malaysia are:
Medical tourism is popular in Malaysia, with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council reporting an arrival of 1.3 million foreign patients in 2019, almost double from 2014 figure with around 882,000 foreign patient. Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, a government agency with the aim of promoting medical tourism, was launched in 2009 as an initiative by the Ministry of Health. The established private healthcare facilities supported by internationally recognized doctors and trained medical staff have made Malaysia a top destination for medical travel. In 2019, Malaysia attracted 1.3 million international healthcare tourists who generated over $500 million in hospital receipts.
In 2016, Malaysia recorded 26,757,392 tourist arrivals, a growth of 4.0% compared to 25,721,251 in 2015. The table lists the top 15 arrivals to Malaysia by their origin countries.