By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, June 23: The Rain Rave Water Music Festival 2026, held across six states, attracted around 415,000 visitors and generated an estimated economic impact of nearly RM400 million.
In a TVS news, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said the large-scale event highlights the strong potential of event-based tourism in supporting the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY2026) campaign.
He said the economic impact estimate was derived from Tourism Malaysia’s Departing Visitor Survey (DVS) methodology, supported by data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
“The organisation of this festival is part of the event-based tourism strategy under VMY2026, carried out through collaboration between Tourism Malaysia and the private sector.
“This festival was selected as one of the iconic VMY2026 events to attract more visitors, increase tourist spending, and stimulate the local economy.
“Events like this help boost tourist arrivals, energise local business activity, and generate spillover effects across sectors such as accommodation, transport, and food and beverage,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Young Syefura Othman (PH–Bentong) on whether the festival supports event-based tourism efforts to attract more international visitors while balancing global appeal with local cultural values.
Replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Mumtaz Md Nawi (PN–Tumpat) on whether the festival contradicts Malaysia’s Muslim-friendly tourism and halal destination initiatives, Tiong said participation is based on individual choice.
“As I said earlier, this programme is for both international tourists and locals. Those who wish to attend may do so; those who do not are not obliged to attend.
“Our programmes are open to everyone regardless of race or religion,” he added. — DayakDaily
