RM11.1bil in revenue expected from 4.5mil tourist arrivals this year

Tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri launching the Tourism Recovery Framework 2.0 today. With her is ministry secretary-general Saraya Arbi (right). (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: The government hopes to generate RM11.1 billion from the tourism industry with 4.5 million tourist arrivals expected this year.

Tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri said the revised target was based on positive indications after the arrival of 2.3 million tourists in the country within the last three months.

“This is beyond our target. Initially, we targeted two million until the end of the year but now it is not even the end of the year, yet we have already achieved that figure.

“Maybe by September we can see more. We will continue to review this from time to time,” she told a press conference after the ministry’s tourism dialogue session and the launching of the Tourism Recovery Framework 2.0 here today.

She was previously reported to have said that her ministry was targeting two million tourist arrivals this year with more than RM6.8 billion in tourism receipts.

Nancy said to achieve this optimistic target, TRF 2.0 would focus on smart international and national collaborations.

As of last month, she said the ministry had channelled RM23.8 million in financial assistance to 15,000 tour operators.

About RM4.73 million in vouchers had been redeemed for the purchase of craft products, visual arts and books. Another RM2.35 million worth of vouchers have been offered for travel packages and land transport.

As for matching grants, she said 342 applications worth RM1.64 million had been approved for homestays and 43 applications worth RM886,000 were approved for budget hotels as of June 15.

*This article was originally published on Free Malaysia Today, 21/06/2022.