LETTER | Inbound tourists can be placed in 6 major groups

LETTER | Since 2012, I have conducted the Travel and Tours Enhancement Course for thousands of industry personnel so that they could renew their company licence for operating tour and travel businesses.

Although all are licensed for “inbound”, very few are aware that tourist arrival figures as far back as 2012 can be obtained from Tourism Malaysia’s website.

The latest figures are particularly useful, as 2022 arrivals are compared with 2019 and indicate the true potential of 45 listed countries.

An overall picture would emerge by placing them into six groups. The first would be under Asean, followed by East Asia, Indian subcontinent, Europe, North America combined with Oceania, and lastly a motley group that includes Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Asean

Last year, 8,138,818 or 81 percent of tourist arrivals were contributed by Asean nationals, with Singaporeans accounting for 5,222,991. It would be a fallacy to think that Asean citizens do not spend much in our country.

On a per diem (daily per person) basis in 2019, Bruneians and Singaporeans were the second and third-highest spenders in Malaysia. The top five were the Saudis at RM1,084 per day, Bruneians RM923, Singaporeans RM865, Australians RM718, and China nationals at RM718.

In 2019, we received 17,880,151 tourists from nine Asean countries or 69 percent of all arrivals. Asean will remain as our most important market as our neighbours continue to prosper and people are wary of travelling long haul due to lockdowns or wars.

East Asia

This group is headed by China, followed by South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Together, they accounted for 489,188 tourist arrivals to Malaysia or 4.9 percent of the total. In 2019, these four countries contributed 4,594,932 tourists or 17.6 percent of the total.

They have the highest growth potential in the coming years, especially China that have lifted travel restrictions recently.

For example, if tourist arrivals to Thailand were to be doubled in 2027 compared to 2019 and a corresponding rise in numbers from all source countries, the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand in 2027 would be 22 million!

Indian subcontinent

This group of five nations is headed by the most populous country India, followed by Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Nationalities of these five countries contributed 480,401 tourists or 4.8 percent of the total 10,070,964 arrivals in 2022.

In 2019, they accounted for 1,066,561 tourists or 4.1 percent of the total 26,100,784 arrivals.

Europe

There are 13 countries in this group headed by the United Kingdom, followed by Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway.

Last year, they contributed 373,944 tourist arrivals or 3.71 percent of the total. In 2019, 959,764 European nationals visited Malaysia or 3.68 percent of all arrivals. Sadly, the economies of European countries continue to falter and are impacted by the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war.

North America + Oceania

The countries in this group are the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In 2019, these four countries contributed 309,300 tourist arrivals to Malaysia, or 3.1 percent of the total. In 2019, the number was 775,907, or 3 percent of the total.

By far, the largest number came from Australia with 152,265 in 2022 and 368,271 in 2019, and has the greatest potential to contribute the most among these four countries in the coming years.

Motley group

For expediency, the rest of the 10 countries are placed here, Again, they are listed from the largest number to the lowest starting with Saudi Arabia, followed by Russia, Egypt, South Africa, Iran, Türkiye, Iraq, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and Kazakhstan.

Together, they contributed 119,231 of tourist arrivals last year, or 1.2 percent of the total. In 2019, the number was 382,534, or 1.5 percent of the total.

The two major suppliers were Saudi Arabia and Russia. They contributed 58 percent of the total arrivals among these 10 countries in 2022, and 53 percent in 2019.

Rest of the world

Apart from the 45 countries mentioned above, other countries are not listed. Combined, they contributed 160,082 tourist arrivals, or 1.6 percent of the total. In 2019, the number was 440,935, or 1.7 percent of the total.

Proactive

Inbound tour operators do not have to grope in the dark as Tourism Malaysia had generated valuable information and statistics to help industry players grow their business by targeting the right markets.

It would benefit them greatly to study the 124-page Tourism Malaysia 2019 annual report. The knowledge gleaned could empower them to make informed decisions and not miss out on the many opportunities ahead.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.