By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 28: Malaysia recorded 32.26 million international visitor arrivals from January to September 2026, an increase of 2.4 per cent compared with the same period last year.
Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, when winding up the debate for his ministry at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, said the tourism industry continues to support the national economy, contributing approximately RM323 billion, up 15.9 per cent to the national gross domestic economy and supporting 3.7 million jobs.
He highlighted that despite geopolitical challenges in West Asia which has affected visitors’ travel plans, the government continued to intensify tourism promotion efforts using existing allocations to sustain the industry’s growth momentum
“This momentum will be further strengthened through an allocation of RM935 million to the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), including efforts to ensure the success of the Visit Malaysia Campaign 2026–2027,” he said in a recent Facebook post.
During his debate, Tiong said, “From January to October this year, Tourism Malaysia had worked with 24 airlines, comprising three domestic and 21 international carriers, to support 46 international flight routes which include 35 were new routes while the remaining 11 were existing routes that continued to operate.
“These new routes introduced included Xi’an-Kuala Lumpur, Guiyang-Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai-Tawau, Shanghai-Pulau Pinang Xiamen-Kota Kinabalu, Busan-Kuala Lumpur, Busan-Kota Kinabalu and Frankfurt-Kuala Lumpur, and Algeria-Kuala Lumpur. On December, Malaysia will receive special charter flights from Warsaw, Poland, and Almaty, Kazakhstan to Langkawi and Pulau Pinang.”
He also pointed out the business events segment, including meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), also performed encouragingly with by second quarter of 2026, the number of events increased 81.2 per cent to 125, while international delegate attendance rose 105.2 per cent to 83,596 delegates, with its economic impact rising 113.7 per cent to RM1.24 billion in the second quarter of 2026
To strengthen growth in the segment, Tiong said RM10 million had been allocated to the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) to attract more high-impact MICE and international sporting events. He noted that the Ministry of Finance have also extended tax incentives for organising international-standard events for the 2028-2030 period. – DayakDaily
