Budget 2027: Tourism Malaysia Seeks Higher Allocation To Reach Target Of 47 Million Tourists
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) --Tourism Malaysia is requesting an increased allocation through Budget 2027 in an effort to achieve the target of 47 million tourist arrivals through the Visit Malaysia campaign that has been extended until the 2027.
Its director-general, Mohd Amirul Rizal Abdul Rahim, said that the increase in allocation is important to ensure the promotion of Malaysia in the international market can continue, thereby allowing the country to remain competitive in attracting tourists.
He said the application also takes into account the views of tourism industry players who hope that allocations to the sector can be increased to strengthen efforts to promote Malaysia on a global scale.
"The hope of industry players is certainly that the allocation can be increased. To remain competitive, we need an injection, not only financially but also through collaboration with tourism industry players," he said when met after the launch of the Edu+ 2.0 Education Tourism Package, EatVenture, and the Taste of Orchard Package in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia 2026-2027 campaign at Saloma Kuala Lumpur here today.
He said the tourism sector has a wide spillover effect on various groups in society, not only hotels and restaurants, but also including operators of tourism-related products and services.
Mohd Amirul Rizal said the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) has requested a higher allocation compared to last year to ensure the sector remains resilient, including through the organisation of international-scale events.
"International-scale events do not necessarily have to be large, but they can attract foreign tourists to come to Malaysia specifically to attend the event. That's what we are trying to do," he said while emphasising that the tourism sector also makes a significant contribution to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Commenting on the tourism statistics so far, he said the number of international visitor arrivals increased by 2.5 per cent to 21.1 million for the period from January to June 2026 compared to 20.6 million in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the performance of domestic tourism expenditure in the first quarter of this year increased by 15.8 per cent to RM34.0 billion compared to RM29.4 billion in the first quarter of 2025, while the number of domestic visitors increased by 7.2 per cent to 74.7 million compared to 69.7 million in the same period.
He said it showed positive growth, but it still has not reached the target set for the Visit Malaysia campaign, following the impact of the West Asia conflict that began in early March.
However, he also said that the government remains targeting 47 million international tourist arrivals to ensure that the promotional momentum that has been implemented continues to be strengthened and is not affected by external factors such as geopolitical conflicts.
"It is important for this year that we continue to create demand, which is why the Prime Minister agreed to extend the Visit Malaysia campaign until 2027," he added.
--BERNAMA