In a statement, chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in 2020, the country’s tourism receipts recorded RM52.4 billion, which was a 71.2% drop from the RM182.1 billion recorded in 2019.
“2020 is the second year that domestic tourism receipts exceeded the inbound tourism receipts, with a contribution of 73.8%,” he added.
“Domestic tourism generated RM38.6 billion in tourism receipts last year, which was a decline of 58.3% from 2019.”
On inbound tourism expenditure, Uzir said that the country saw a drop of 84.6% from 2019 to 2020, recording only RM13.7 billion last year.
“This is a consequence of the government’s travel restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19,” he said.
Commenting further on the tourism industry’s performance throughout 2020, Uzir said the industry had generated RM199.4 billion in gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI) by contributing 14.1% to the gross domestic product (GDP).
He added that employment in the tourism industry dropped by 2.9%, mainly due to the government’s salary and wage subsidy initiative to ensure tourism operators could retain employees despite the massive downturn in business.
“Overall, the tourism sector in 2020 was still able to absorb substantial pressure from the weak demand.
“Consumption in non-tourism activities helped moderate the effects of this unprecedented pandemic on the national economy, as reflected through the performance of GVATI,” he said.
Uzir also noted that Malaysia’s tourism industry should continue to focus on digitalisation and expansion of smart products and infrastructure as an initiative to develop a more resilient and sustainable future in Malaysia as recommended by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida).
He said digital technology had influenced the way people travel and tourism industry players were changing how they operate.
This would help rebuild the confidence of tourists through rebranding and developing communication plans to deliver the message that Malaysia is a safe and trusted travel destination.