However, 150,000 of these visitors are either returning Malaysians or Singaporeans with family ties in Malaysia, according to Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) inbound and domestic vice-president Ganeesh Rama.

Nonetheless, he expects more visitors from May onwards.

Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) president Uzaidi Udanis also echoed this sentiment, stating that although their official figures are only from the first four days of April, the number of people entering the country is encouraging.

“Thailand accounted for the second-highest number of visitors at 7,000, followed by Indonesia at 5,000. India and the United Kingdom had 2,400 and 1,000 visitors respectively,” Uzaidi said.

“Based on the number of enquiries so far, we anticipate a large number of tourists from India, Indonesia and the Middle East who will make Malaysia their destination from May onwards,” Ganeesh said.

With more than 100,000 tourists expected from India alone, Ganeesh is projecting that about five million tourists will make Malaysia their destination this year and added that preparations are currently under way to entice more tourists — including those from the West — who will be looking for a winter retreat.

Uzaidi’s projection is lower, at around two million tourists by the end of this year, and he expects them to contribute about RM10 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“Our main concern right now is the high cost of commercial airline fuel which has risen by 48% since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” he explained. He also expressed concern that airlines may soon impose higher fares, thus making travel more expensive.

Uzaidi expressed hopes that very soon, Malaysia can once again welcome more than the 26 million visitors who contributed some RM80 billion in tourist receipts to the country’s GDP in 2019.