Malaysia was ranked as one of the world's top 10 tourist destinations, making it the only South-East Asian country to make the list in the United Nations World Trade Organization Tourism Highlights 2012.
In 2011, international tourism receipts reached a record US$ 1,030 billion (euro 740 bn), up from 927 billion (euro 699 bn) in 2010.
Visitor expenditure on accommodation, food and drink, local transport, entertainment and shopping, is an important contributor to the economy of many destinations, creating much needed employment and opportunities for development
Asia and the Pacific (+6%) recorded an increase of 13 million tourist arrivals in 2011, reaching a total of 217 million. Growth slowed down compared to 2010 (+13%), largely due to the impact of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan affecting both inbound tourism to and outbound tourism from the country. The Asia and the Pacific region earned US$ 289 billion in tourism receipts, up US$ 34 billion from 2010, or a 4% increase in real terms.
By subregions, South-East Asia experienced the highest growth in international arrivals (+10%), benefiting from strong intraregional demand. A large number of destinations reported double-digit figures, with Myanmar (+26%), Cambodia, Thailand (both +20%) and Vietnam (+19%) posting the highest growth in arrivals. In absolute terms, Thailand recorded the largest increase, with over 3 million more tourist arrivals, followed by Singapore (+1 million)
Most popular destination
European countries dominated the most popular destinations list. France headed the list and five other European countries were in the top 10.
The second most popular destination, the United States, had the largest international tourism receipts. Spain had the second biggest income from tourism and France rounded out the top three.
China (third overall) was the most popular destination in Asia and Malaysia (ninth) was the second Asian destination with the most tourist arrivals.
German tourists spent the most
There weren't many major changes from 2012 in the list of nation's whose citizens spent the most on tourism. Germans again topped spending with US$84 billion in 2011.
Tourists from the United States were next with US$79 billion worth of expenditure, followed by China with US$73 billion. China also had the highest growth -- 18 percent -- from last year's figures.
The only differences in the chart from last year were from Japan and Russia. Russia rose to seventh place while Japan replaced Russia, slipping to ninth.
This fall was due to a decline in outbound Japanese tourism after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, according to the report.
The report predicted the international tourism market will continue to grow -- an average of 3.3 percent annual increase -- until at least 2030. The report projected international tourist arrivals worldwide will reach 1.8 billion by 2030.
Another prediction: emerging economy destinations will become more popular travel spots than advanced economy destinations (which currently lead the industry).
In 2011 Malaysia recorded 24.7 million tourist arrival compared to in 2009, the country recorded 23.6 million tourists arrival and in 2010, the country recorded 24.6 million.
Topping the list was France with 79.5 million tourist arrivals, followed by United States [62.3 million], China [57.6 million], Spain [56.7 million], Italy [46.1 million], Turkey [31.3 million], United Kingdom [29.2 million] Germany [28.4 million] and Mexico [23.4 million]
The report rated Malaysia ninth based on international tourists arrival, with 24.7 million foreign tourists last year and 14th on international tourist arrivals.
This is not an overnight success, as Tourism Malaysia and the Government has been working hard and long to promote the country. They wont be resting on their laurels and will continue to work hard to improve their rankings. Many various efforts are being implemented now, especially to be a major player in MICE. The Malaysian Ministry of Tourism has set up a new agency - My Conventions and Exhibitions Bereau (MYCEB) in 2010. MyCEB's role is to further promote and position Malaysia internationally as the preferred destination for meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibition (MICE) including major events. They assist local and international meeting and event planners bid for, secure and stage their international events successfully in Malaysia.
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As a measure to further develop the international events industry, MyCEB has launched a specialist unit known as the International Events Unit (IEU) which focuses on identifying and supporting international event bids including sports, art and culture and lifestyle events. The IEU's goal is to identify and assist home-grown events with the potential to attract international publicity and international attendances. MyCEB works closely with Tourism Malaysia offices worldwide to extend its services globally.
With all this effort, it will not be surprising to see Malaysia go up the rankings in the near future.
Source- WTO, Jalarta Post. Wikipedia. Tourism Malaysia, titsermay.
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