By Evangeline Majawat
KUALA LUMPUR: A global recession, credit crunch and even an influenza pandemic did not stop a record 23.6 million tourists from flocking to Malaysia last year.
Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board chairman Datuk Dr Victor Wee said Malaysia was one of the seven countries that recorded positive growth in tourist arrivals despite the challenges.
According to the World Tourism Organisation, Africa had a tourism boom last year while Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East saw positive growth in the second half of last year.
Wee said budget airlines and attractive tour packages had encouraged people to visit.
"With the growth of budget airlines, our links to other countries have been incredibly strong," he said after the launch of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Fair at Putra World Trade Centre yesterday.
The three-day fair ends tomorrow.
Wee said the number of tourists coming to Malaysia had grown steadily since the last decade from 5.5 million to 23.6 million last year.
"With the (global) economy expected to recover this year, we're targeting 24 million," he said.
Singaporeans followed by Indonesians and Thais led the tourist rush.
The tourism product that saw the most growth, Wee said, were homestay programmes with a 100 per cent increase.
"Cities too have always been the main attraction for those in the region. Medical or health tourism is also quite popular."
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