Malaysia’s domestic tourism continued to record better performance last year, recording a double-digit growth of 12 percent to 92.6 billion RM (22.4 billion USD), according to Bernama news agency.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said for the first time since 2005, the contribution of domestic tourism expenditure outpaced the inbound tourism expenditure in 2019.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia said the contribution of domestic tourism spending towards overall tourism consumption increased to 50.9 percent from 48.6 percent in the preceding year.

The better performance was supported by shopping activities, which were the largest component with a contribution of 42.1 percent, followed by the purchase of automotive fuel (16.7 percent) and food and beverage (15.9 percent), it said.

Mohd Uzir said this expansion reflects Malaysians are increasingly interested to travel within the country, as well as spending on local tourism products.

This trend can also be seen in 2020 whereby the domestic tourism segment becomes vibrant following the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world which resulted in the closure of international borders by the government for all tourism activities, he added.

Meanwhile, the inbound tourism expenditure increased to 89.6 billion RM in 2019 from 87.7 billion RM a year earlier, with a growth of 2 percent compared to 2.3 percent in 2018.

The contribution of the tourism sector to the economy is measured by the Gross Value Added of Tourism Industries (GVATI) which recorded a contribution of 15.9 percent compared to 15.2 percent in 2018.

Source: VNA