International tourists into Malaysia is booming! Are we ahead of Thailand already?

International tourists into Malaysia is booming! Are we ahead of Thailand already?

How can tourism bring multiplier effects to Malaysia?

When tourists come, if they stay in hotel, we would need more hotels. Hotels would need more workers. Laundry service would need more people. F&B outlets would need more people. If they stay in AirBnB, more owners would have more money. More money means they could spend more. When they spend more, the vendors providing the service / product must hire people. When more tourists come, more people would have jobs and more people would spend money. This is why success in attracting more international tourists will have multiplier effect to the economy.

Is tourism contributing significantly to the GDP of Malaysia?

Tourism sector contributed 15 percent to the GDP of Malaysia in 2024. In 2025, the total value which tourism is expected to contribute to the economy of Malaysia would be RM332 billion. Yes, BILLION… For as long as I could remember, Thailand has always been the ‘king’ when it comes to international tourist arrivals. Malaysia is always that second placed country here in ASEAN. I have good news.

Malaysia leading all in ASEAN

Take a look at the latest numbers for 2025 from January to August 2025. We are not just at the top. We led the second placed Thailand by very close to 30 percent. We are double the number of tourists to Vietnam which is the 3rd placed country in ASEAN.

Nope, Langkawi is NOT ahead of Bali

Let’s be realistic. Bali has a lot of attractions which Langkawi cannot do. (I did not say could not). Bali’s international airport is really international. Langkawi still have some distance to go. On a yearly basis, Bali receives around 6.4 million INTERNATIONAL tourists and this is 533,000 per month on average. This does not include local tourist numbers, just the international ones. Langkawi is at 2.9 million tourists in total, most of the numbers would be locals.

However, Malaysia is not just Langkawi yeah. Kuala Lumpur is well ahead of Jakarta for example where international tourist numbers are concerned. As long as more international tourists come and we are able to get them to fly over to Langkawi, the spillover effects will start happening. Perhaps Visit Malaysia Year 2026 will be able to double the numbers? If this happens, tourism could even provide up to 20 percent of the GDP of Malaysia!

When demand for accommodation increases…where do I find opportunities?

If we have sufficient financial capability (well funded), opening hotels (or buying and refurbishing them) nearby tourist attraction places would be an opportunity. There’s no need to compete with the 4 or 5 star hotels, they cater to a very different group. We just need to aim at the middle portion which is a super big group yeah.

If we intend to buy a property for investment, then perhaps accommodation for international tourists could be one opportunity. When tourist numbers rise very quickly, accommodation may need time to catch up too. Just need to be aware that when Covid-19 hit in 2020, many of the short-term stay operators had to close their business as no tourists could come in. In other words, there are definitely risks when we are focused on just international tourists.

Congratulations Malaysia on this achievement; top destination in ASEAN for international tourists. I know as usual naysayers would say ‘quality’ of these international tourists are NOT on par with those who are traveling to Australia or UK or even to Maldives. Noted and do remember that we are not trying to outdo any other country and reasons to visit will always be different too. The international tourism cake is growing super fast, grabbing a piece is already not easy to digest… Keep it up.

Please feel free to share this article too. (links are all below) Thank you! 

Sign up for daily investment news updates (FREE since Nov 2013 and FOREVER).  

Please LIKE kopiandproperty.com FB page to get daily updates about the property market beyond kopiandproperty.com articles. 

Else, follow me on Twitter here.