KOTA BHARU, April 20 — Tourism Malaysia is aiming for 45 million visitor arrivals to the country to boost the Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) campaign.
Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk P. Manoharan expressed confidence that the target is achievable, citing the fact that Malaysia welcomed over 38 million visitors last year.
“For the record, the number of visitors to Malaysia as of February this year has increased by 31.3 per cent, reaching 6.7 million compared with 5.1 million during the same period last year. The main contributors to this growth are visitors from Singapore, China, and India,” he said.
“Looking at the current trend in tourist arrivals, we are optimistic about achieving the target of 45 million visitors, and this goal is certainly within reach. To accomplish this, we must collaborate with all industry players, including product operators and state governments, to attract more visitors to the country,” he added.
He said this during an engagement session with Kelantan tourism industry players, held today, which was also attended by Kelantan state executive councillor for tourism, culture, arts and heritage Datuk Kamarudin Md Nor.
He said his team will work closely with tourism industry players in each state to help them promote their products and cultural or artistic activities.
“We found that Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan are among the states less active in applying for grants to promote their tourism industries, compared with Selangor, Sabah, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang,” he noted.
“Therefore, we hope these industry players will take advantage of opportunities to apply for government assistance, schemes, and grants to boost promotional activities in their states,” he added.
— Bernama
