SHAH ALAM, Sept 6 — The appeal of eco-tourism has been a contributing factor to the increased number of domestic tourists to the state, according to Tourism Selangor.
It said the segment saw a 44 per cent growth this year at 949,945 visitors, compared to 2024's number at 658,203 visitors.
"However, the number of international visitors to eco-tourism attractions saw a slight contraction by five per cent from January to June this year, recording only 171,236 visitors compared to last year's 180,610 visitors," Tourism Selangor said in its Tourism Statistics Report released today.
In total, the number of eco-tourists from January to June this year stood at approximately 1,121,180, compared to 838,813 last year.
"Overall, all categories of tourism products with domestic and international visitors recorded an increase in visitor numbers. Aside from these, the museums/galleries category grew by 59 per cent, others by 34 per cent, and theme parks by 21 per cent," it said.
The report noted that the state's performance for the first half of the year represents 51 per cent of the overall target of eight million tourist arrivals set under the Visit Selangor Year 2025 campaign.
"We hope the momentum of tourist arrivals to Selangor will continue to grow in the final six months of the year, so as to achieve the targeted eight million visitors," Tourism Selangor said.
The state's eco-tourism attractions include the Kanching Eco Forest Park in Rawang with its waterfalls, the Paya Indah Wetlands in Banting for wildlife observation, and the Gombak-Hulu Langat Geopark straddling Gombak and Hulu Langat, which is of interest to archaeology and geology aficionados.
