People pose for photos at the Zoo Negara near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 17, 2025. (Xinhua/Cheng Yiheng)
KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Despite the gloomy economic outlook, Hong Leong Investment Bank foresees that tourism strength in Malaysia remains intact, underpinned by strong Chinese tourist arrivals.
The research house said in a report on Thursday that Malaysia's first-quarter tourism numbers have been strong, seeing that tourist arrivals and receipts grew by 10 percent and 24 percent year-on-year, respectively, to 6.4 million and 27.5 billion ringgit (6.5 billion U.S. dollars), while the average spending per tourist has climbed to 4,300 ringgit.
"This can be attributable to the sharp spike in Chinese tourist arrivals during the first three months of the year (+27 percent year-on-year)," it noted.
Tourism Malaysia has set a record tourist arrival target of 31.3 million and 125.5 billion ringgit in receipts for 2025, marking an ambitious growth aspiration of 25 percent and 23 percent year-on-year, respectively.
Hong Leong highlighted that Chinese tourists tend to have a longer vacation in Malaysia and are higher spenders.
The research house also gathered that Malaysia was the most visited country in Southeast Asia in the first quarter, saying that the country has benefited from being the ASEAN chairman and campaigns running up to Visit Malaysia Year 2026.
For next year, Tourism Malaysia targets 35.6 million in tourist arrivals (+14 percent year-on-year) and 147.1 billion ringgit in receipts (+17 percent year-on-year). (1 ringgit equals 0.24 U.S. dollars)
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