Talking Big About Tourism To Feel Good

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THE above was how I felt when reading the heading of a Bernama report “Malaysia targets high-value tourists for Visit Malaysia 2026 campaign”.
Undoubtedly, tourism expenditure is ultimately the most important, but high numbers of visitors are needed to ensure stability of businesses and sustainability of the industry, which could be volatile when arrivals are highly seasonal and very low in between.
Hence, all visitors should be welcomed, regardless whether they are low or high-value. Those on corporate travel may stay in luxury hotels and use limousine services, but may not spend much on other things, and their stays are usually shorter than tourists on holidays.
On the other hand, those who stay in more affordable tourist-class hotels may spend a considerable sum on shopping, which is the main tourism expenditure for both foreign and domestic tourists. They also contribute significantly to various food and beverage outlets.
Identifying high-spending visitors is more like guesswork or stereotyping. A good example is tourists from China.
It was true that initially, many came on cheap tours and were ferried to dubious outlets for shopping with multiple parties receiving commissions.
They include tourist guides, often tour leaders as well, and bus drivers receiving, not paying, ‘parking fees’.
If prearranged, local inbound tour operators also get a cut, and so would foreign outbound tour operators by stationing their personnel here to closely monitor shopping activities.
From 2012 onwards, Chinese tourists were known as the highest spending in the world. For example in 2017, they spent US$258 bil, representing 20% of global tourism spending, according to the World Economic Forum, and were eagerly welcomed by luxury stores in Europe.
Today, the majority of Chinese tourists are ‘Free Independent Travellers’ (FITs). They are younger and much more confident, using their smartphones for information, translation, navigation and payment, relying more on their apps and are hardly influenced by other sources or people.
Before the pandemic in 2019, the top five countries whose nationalities spent the most amount of money in Malaysia were Singapore, China, Indonesia, Thailand and India. In terms of per diem or per person per day, they were from Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Singapore, Australia and China.
Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (Image: Bernama)Therefore, it would be a huge mistake to assume that visitors from neighbouring countries like Singapore and Brunei are low-value tourists who do not spend much by making cross border trips to Malaysia.
On Tuesday, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said “Tourist arrivals from Singapore in 2025 rose by 25.5% to 10,288,256, compared with 8,397,886 in 2024; Indonesia increased by 8.2% to 2,197,288 from 2,031,111; China grew by 35.6% to 2,178,857 from 1,607,413; and India recorded a 26.6% rise to 807,664 from 638,109.”
“We are not only focused on promoting the country’s tourism to China; we also aim to attract high-end and high-spending tourists”, rebutting inaccurate claims that his ministry was solely focusing on potential tourists from China.
He added “ITC (Islamic Tourism Centre under his ministry) has also carried out a tourism promotion mission to four major countries, namely China, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, as part of efforts to boost Muslim tourist arrivals, particularly ahead of VM2026”.
After reading the full Bernama report, I find the heading is inaccurate, as it does not truly reflect the contents.
This was confirmed by another report on the same matter by an English daily with the heading “Over 10 million Singaporean tourist arrivals in 2025 to date, says Tiong”.
Lest we forget, it is not a straightforward matter that we will get high-value tourists simply by targeting this segment.
We must first have high-end products in terms of both goods and services, and establishments that offer them know how to tap these markets before investing.
Also, the wealthy do not feel rich if all those around them are affluent. It would not be viable to operate an airline offering only first-class seats, or a destination with only luxury hotels that are five-star or above. There must be a diverse range, from very high-end to middle tier then budget.
Have you ever wondered why the 27-storey Antilia, worth more than US$2 bil and the most expensive private residence in India owned by Mukesh Ambani, is located in South Mumbai where the contrast between wealth and poverty is stark?
In any case, the main focus on tourism promotions is getting visitors to stay longer in the country by visiting multiple destinations and spending more.
In 2003, their average length of stay was eight nights and 6.2 in 2019. In 2023, it was only 2.45 nights, and rose to 4.5 nights last year. 
YS Chan is the master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course. He is an Asean Tourism Master Trainer and 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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