The Malaysian tourism industry will probably not be able to attain its target of 22.5 Million tourist arrivals in 2008 due to recession in Singapore, increased fuel price and rising inflation.
According to the latest report on the website of Tourism Malaysia, the target of Malaysian tourism to attract 22.5 Million tourists in 2008 seems inaccessible, as reported by Business times. It is evident from the fact that the country managed to attract only 16.33 Million tourists during the period from January to September 2008.
The total number of tourist arrivals witnessed a fall of 0.1% in September 2008, reaching 1.59 Million as compared to 1.6 Million recorded in September 2007. The tourist arrivals from seven Arab countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and Iran, declined 7.6% to rest at 94,604 in the third quarter of 2008 against 102,329 tourist arrivals in July-September 2007.
The major reason behind the expected failure of Malaysian tourism industry is that Singapore is going thorough the phase of recession. As Singapore is one of the leading tourism markets for Malaysia that makes up for about half of the total visitor arrivals in the country, recession in Singapore will affect the Malaysian tourism industry badly.
Furthermore, tourism industry will also be affected by the decline in demand of travel and vacation due to the globally prevailing economic crisis. Higher travelling expenses because of increasing fuel price and rising inflation are also contributing considerably in containing the total tourist arrivals.
Moreover, the declining phase of the Malaysian Tourism industry will probably continue in the coming months also. Even though the country is not likely to meet its target, the Malaysian tourism industry is hopeful of registering good arrival figures in near future. The industry is making every possible effort to lure more and more tourists to Malaysia and as a part of these efforts, “Zoom! Malaysia” campaign has been launched to promote domestic tourism.
According to the Research Analyst at RNCOS, “The decline in tourism industry of Malaysia since past few months is expected to keep it short of its target for 2008. The economic volatility worldwide has posed a challenge to Malaysian tourism industry. As Malaysia is also suffering from the economic slowdown, it should look forward to promote its tourism industry in relatively stable regions.”
Related Market Research Reports:
Opportunities in Malaysian Tourism Industry (2007-2009)
Egypt Tourism Sector Analysis
Indian Tourism Industry Analysis
