Tourism in Malaysia

Tourism in Malaysia is a major industry and contributor to the Malaysian economy. Malaysia was once ranked 9th in the world for tourist arrivals. In 2017, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Malaysia 26 out of 141 countries using its Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) which measures the various components and policies of a country that are in place to allow for the sustainable development of its travel and tourism sectors.

In an effort to diversify Malaysia's economy and reduce its dependency on exports, the government pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. This led tourism to become Malaysia's second largest source of foreign exchange income. In 2022, tourism contributed 14% to Malaysia's overall GDP.

The government agency in charge of promoting tourism in Malaysia is Tourism Malaysia or the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB). On 20 May 1987, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) was established and TDC moved to this new ministry. TDC existed from 1972 to 1992, when it became the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), through the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act, 1992.

In 2007, Malaysia launched its most notable tourism campaign titled "Malaysia Truly Asia". This campaign was launched in conjunction with Malaysia's 50th year of independence and was heavily promoted and advertised. It exceeded expectations and was a massive success, chartering the arrivals of 20.97 million tourists.

In 2025, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru were named among the top 10 destinations in Asia with the highest number of repeat visitors, according to Agoda. In the same year, Malaysia received approximately 26.6 million international tourist arrivals from its main source markets, the vast majority originating from Asia (about 23.7 million visitors, or 89.1%), while Western markets — Europe, Northern America, as well as Australia and New Zealand — accounted for only about 2.2 million arrivals (8.2%). Other regions, including the Middle East and Africa, accounted for a comparatively smaller share of arrivals. Major source markets included Singapore (35.1%), China, Indonesia, Thailand and India, while the largest Western source markets were Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Germany.

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