How Well Did Local Tourism Businesses Perform In 2024

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OVER the years, the top three reports on tourism statistics were from the Department of Statistics releasing the Domestic Tourism Survey in June and the Tourism Satellite Account every September, with Tourism Malaysia regularly posting monthly tourist arrival figures from the top 45 countries and the rest of the world.

Last year, total tourism expenditure growth in the country increased by 7.4%, from RM271.9 bil in 2023 to RM291.9 bil in 2024, which outpaced the average growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), increasing its share of GDP from 14.0% to 15.1%.
The top three components in “Gross Value Added of Tourism Industries” (GVATI) were retail trade (52.9%), food and beverage serving services (16.3%), and “country-specific tourism services” (13.3%).
Combined, these three major categories grabbed 82.5% of all tourism expenditure in the country in 2024.
A whopping 3.54 million persons were employed in the tourism industry last year, up from 3.38 million in 2023, with 37.9% in the retail trade, 36.5% in the food and beverage serving business, and 10.7% in the country-specific tourism services.
Astonishingly, the number of people working in the tourism industry made up 21.6% of the total workforce of 16.37 million in Malaysia last year!

Inbound tourism expenditure was RM107 bil in 2024, a massive jump from RM75.8 bil in 2023. The top three components were shopping (36.1%), passenger transport services (19.1%), and accommodation services (18.5%). Combined, these three sectors earned 73.7% of total inbound tourism revenue.
(Image: FirstClasse)Domestic tourism expenditure was RM98.4 bil in 2024, up from RM78.7 bil in 2023. The top three components were shopping (40.5%), food and beverage serving services (17.6%), and retail sale of automotive fuel (13.7%). Combined, these three sectors earned 71.8% of total domestic tourism revenue.
In other words, domestic tourism has little to do with packages offered by tour companies, as the vast majority of domestic visitors travel in their own vehicles or use public transport.
Moreover, over 60% of domestic tourists stayed with relatives and friends in 2024, down from over 70% in 2019.
Interestingly, the GVATI in 2019 was RM240.2 bil, inbound tourism expenditure RM89.4 bil, and domestic tourism expenditure RM92.6 bil. All three 2019 figures were surpassed in 2024.
However, tourist arrivals to Malaysia last year was just over 25 million, well short of the targeted 27.3 million, and below the 26.1 million in 2019.

Nevertheless, total visitor arrivals in 2024 was 38 million by adding 13 million foreign excursionists, compared to 35 million in 2019 when excursionist arrivals were 8.9 million.
On Sept 2, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahidi Hamidi said the government is targeting 43 million foreign visitors this year and 47 million in 2026. For correct reporting, the media must not interchange ‘visitors’ and ‘tourists’ freely, as they are specific tourism terms when stating or comparing their numbers.
Last year, 25 million foreign tourists spent RM102.2 billion in Malaysia, and 13 million foreign excursionists only spent RM4.5 bil, which is much less.
Although excursionists and visitor arrival numbers are also very important, it is expenditures that bring real benefits to tourism workers’ livelihood and our country’s economy. 
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.
- Focus Malaysia.

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