MALAYSIA AS THE ISLAMIC TOURISM DESTINATION OF CHOICE

PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA, 17 APRIL 2020 – YB Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture is confident that Malaysia will be a worldwide sought after Islamic tourism destination in the future. Islamic tourism in Malaysia is a promising segment that has shown a positive growth in economic contribution and tourist arrivals in Malaysia. In 2019, the segment generated RM16.72 billion in tourism receipts and an estimated number tourist arrival of 5.32 million.

The Islamic tourism receipts increased by 0.72% from RM 16.60 billion in 2018 to RM16.72 billion in 2019. The number of estimated tourist arrivals also went up 1.48% from 5.25 million in 2018 to 5.33 million in 2019.

The main contributor to Malaysia’s Islamic tourism income is Indonesia with the receipt of RM7.3 billion followed by Singapore (RM2.9 billion), Brunei (RM2.2 billion), Saudi Arabia (RM1.3 billion), India (RM514 million), Pakistan (RM442 million), Iran (RM396 million), China (RM276 million), Oman (RM187 million) and Thailand (RM170 million).

The Indonesian market has once again topped the Muslim arrival list in Malaysia at 2,053,673 arrivals trailed by Singapore at 1,422,943, Brunei (958,305), Bangladesh (158,236), Arab Saudi (112,943), India (104,414), Pakistan (101,950), Thailand (81,025), China (56,057) and Iran (46,280).

In general, the main target market of the country’s Islamic tourism segment is the ASEAN market which is also its largest tourism receipts contributor at RM12.7 billion. This market is followed by West Asia (RM2.1 billion) and South Asia (RM1.1 billion). Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) has conducted a variety of programmes including training, marketing and domestic as well as international publicity in addition to introducing Muslim Friendly Accommodation Recognition – MFAR. To top it off, Malaysia has topped the Global Muslim Travel Index Report and been recognised as the number one Muslim Female-Friendly destination in the Muslim Women in Travel Report by MasterCard and CrescentRating in 2019.

YB Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri has declared that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture shall continue to implement all necessary initiatives to support this particular segment in making Malaysia the most desired Islamic tourism destination globally through ITC. Moreover, the Islamic tourism segment could play an important role in assisting the Ministry to revive Malaysia’s tourism industry. YB Minister will also restrategise the scopes and roles of ITC for the agency to function more effectively and holistically. This is to ensure that the Islamic tourism industry will remain relevant and is amplified for it to leave a significant socio-economic impact to the country. She also prayed for the spread of COVID-19 to end as soon as possible and hopes that Malaysians would play their role in complying with the MCO and to #stayhome. Lastly, as 1 Ramadhan 1441H approaches, Salam Ramadhan Kareem.

— END —

Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) is an entity under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia tasked to develop the Islamic tourism segment for Malaysia. It advocates for Muslim-friendly tourism by offering research and market intelligence, training, industry development consultation, Muslim-friendly tourism and hospitality services standards and certification, and information exchange.

For further details, kindly contact:
Islamic Tourism Centre, Level 13, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia
No. 2 Tower 1, Jalan P5/6, Precinct 5, 62200 Putrajaya, Malaysia
Tel: 03-8891 7177 or via email itc@mymuslimtrip.com/v2