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26 ASIAN TOURISM GUIDE 2012/2013MalaysiaGeneral overviewOfficial name MalaysiaCapital Kuala LumpurPopulation 29.4 millionTotal area 329,758km 2Currency Ringgit MalaysiaOfficial language Bahasa MalaysiaEnglish is widely spokenBetween January <strong>and</strong> June 2012 Malaysia welcomed 11.6 million touristarrivals. Nine out of ten top source markets are from the Asia-Pacific region,with Indonesia, China, Japan <strong>and</strong> the Philippines registering double-digityear-on-year growth.By the end of 2012, Malaysia is expected to see 25 million tourist arrivals<strong>and</strong> bag RM60 billion (US$19.6 billion) in tourist reciepts.The country’s minister of <strong>tourism</strong>, Ng Yen Yen, said <strong>tourism</strong> performanceso far was putting the destination on track to achieving the MalaysiaTourism Transformation Plan 2020’s goal of 36 million arrivals<strong>and</strong> RM168 billion in revenue.Tourism Malaysia expects ASEAN nations to continue making keycontributions to the destination’s tourist arrivals.ClimateAverage temperatureAverage rainfallAverage humidity21ºC to 32ºC (lowl<strong>and</strong>s)15°C to 25°C (highl<strong>and</strong>s)2,000mm to 2,400mm70 to 90 per centBest time to visitMalaysia’s moderate weather makes it good to visit allyear round, although heavy rain tends to drench the eastcoast of Peninsular Malaysia in December <strong>and</strong> January.Langkawi, a popular resort destination <strong>and</strong> host of thehigh-profile biennial Langkawi International Maritime<strong>and</strong> Aerospace Exhibition, suffers heavy rain from July toOctober.Diving season on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia<strong>and</strong> in East Malaysia runs from March to October.Low season occurs during the Muslim fasting monthof Ramadan, which will run from July 9 to August 7 in2013. Travel consultants can negotiate for better ratesfrom hotels during this period.Visitor arrival <strong>statistics</strong>Malaysia welcomed 11.6 million tourists during the firstsix months of 2012, registering a year-on-year growth of2.4 per cent.Correspondingly, total <strong>tourism</strong> receipts in 1H2012rose four per cent, channeling RM26.8 billion into nationalcoffers. The destination earned RM25.7 billionduring the same period in 2011.The ASEAN region remains the key source marketfor Malaysia, contributing a monster share of 73.8 percent of total arrivals in 1H2012. This figure reflects aone per cent decline over 1H2011, a result of a changein arrival tracking methodology. Now, arrivals are categorisedby nationality of the traveller, instead of coun-• BangkokMALAYSIA•Kuala Lumpur• akartaKota Kinabalu• angkai•• PenangMALAYSIAKuala • uchingLumpurThe iconic Petronas Twin Towers rise in the background,against Kuala Lumpur’s evening skiestry of residence. Hence, expatriates working or living inASEAN nations are no longer included in the count. Withthe new method of recording arrivals, dips in arrivalswere seen in Singapore (-4.8 per cent), Thail<strong>and</strong> (-11.5per cent), Brunei (-1.2 per cent) <strong>and</strong> Cambodia (-4.2 percent).Longhaul markets posting substantial growth includeOman (33.2 per cent), Russia (28.2 per cent), France(20.6 per cent), the US (18.9 per cent), South Korea (18per cent), Kuwait (17.4 per cent) <strong>and</strong> Denmark (15.7 percent).Arrivals from Saudi Arabia grew a whopping 71.7 percent, thanks to the implementation of a new rule whichrequires all travellers, including children, to travel ontheir own passports. Prior to that, children would travelon their parent’s passports.Total tourist arrivals2009 23.6 million2010 24.6 million2011 24.7 million2012 (January to June) 11.6 million2012 (Target) 25 millionTop 10 source markets (January to June)Countries 2011 2012 % ChangeSingapore 6,125,305 5,832,330 -4.8Indonesia 923,439 1,108,361 20.0China 564,955 758,289 34.2Brunei 595,340 588,165 -1.2Thail<strong>and</strong> 721,907 638,641 -11.5India 341,511 365,104 6.9Australia 270,655 242,579 -10.4Philippines 163,965 238,175 45.3apan .UK 185,708 196,738 5.9Source: Malaysian Immigration DepartmentAverage per capita expenditure (in RM) of top 10 marketsCountries 2010 2011 % ChangeSingapore 2,178.90 2,219.90 1.9Indonesia 1,015.30 1,059.40 4.4China 2,768.40 2,816.30 1.7Brunei 2,334.40 2,459.60 5.4Thail<strong>and</strong> 1,015.30 1,059.40 4.3India 2,615.80 2,685.20 2.7Australia 4,113 4,204.60 2.2Philippines 1,875.80 1,920.20 2.4apan . . .UK 3,831.50 3,899 1.8Source: Tourism MalaysiaBusiness travel <strong>and</strong> MICE arrivals2011 1,285,1452012 (Target) 1,325,000Source: Malaysia Convention & Exhibition BureauNTO marketing budget <strong>and</strong> targetTourism Malaysia was granted RM150 million to spendon advertising <strong>and</strong> promotions in 2012.For the new year, however, that fund is more than doubledto support the new Visit Malaysia Year 2013/2014campaign, which also celebrates the Golden Jubilee of thejoining of Sabah <strong>and</strong> Sarawak with the federation of Malayato form Malaysia in 1963. Some RM358 million hasbeen set aside for this.Malaysia is expected to welcome 26.8 million touristsin 2013.Hotel <strong>statistics</strong>The number of four- <strong>and</strong> five-star rooms in Malaysia asof July 2012 was in the 60,000 bracket, <strong>and</strong> another 3,000rooms in both categories are expected to come on streamby the end of 2012, according to <strong>statistics</strong> from the <strong>tourism</strong>ministry.Hotel rates in Malaysia are among the lowest in Asia.