Tourism arrivals for the first five months of 2012 reached 9.4 million, just 1.2% up over last year. Given the still-struggling state of the global economy, this is not too bad a performance. Interestingly, the biggest drop in arrivals is from Singapore, which accounts for about half of all tourist arrivals into Malaysia. Singapore visitors fell 6%, or around 300,000, for the first five months of 2012.
Arrivals from other major origin markets were mixed. China, Indonesia, and the Philippines showed strong growth while visitors from Thailand and Australia declined. Inbound tourism from Australia also declined last year compared to 2010. This is surprising because, according to the Australian statistics, outbound travel, both leisure and business, has been growing during this period due to the relative strength of their economy and the strong Australian dollar.
Read more: Langkawi Development Board Tries to Boost Tourism
