Unity, tourism and culture committee chairman Leong Yu Man said the state saw a 15.74% increase in arrivals compared with the same period last year, when 5.1 million tourists visited the state and spent RM4.5 billion.

She said Pahang also recorded the highest average occupancy rates of hotels in Malaysia at 75%, a positive increase of 2.5% compared with the same period last year.

“The average occupancy rate is estimated to be more than 36,000 total registered rooms in Pahang, according to Tourism Malaysia’s strategic planning division,” she said in a statement today.

Leong said that according to Tourism Malaysia data, Pahang recorded the highest number of hotel guests among local tourists in the first six months of this year at 5.92 million, followed by Kuala Lumpur (4.4 million), Johor (3.7 million), Selangor (2.8 million) and Penang (2.3 million).

She said five districts in the state showed a positive number of tourist arrivals – Bentong, Kuantan, Cameron Highlands, Temerloh and Rompin.

“Tourism destinations such as Genting Highlands, Pulau Tioman, Cameron Highlands and Kuantan remain popular, with constantly increasing tourist arrival numbers from year to year,” she said.