PUTRAJAYA – Domestic tourism in Malaysia recorded encouraging performance in 2022 when it recorded a total expenditure of RM59.2 billion compared to RM17.5 billion in 2021, according to a report released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) today.

The report is based on the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) issued today, whereby the TSA is a statistical framework to measure tourism industry growth and its contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said there was a significant increase in three main components in the domestic tourism spending in 2022, namely shopping (42.1 per cent), food and beverages (16.4 per cent) and fuel for vehicles (14.9 per cent).

He said international tourism spending also showed a significant increase of RM33.4 billion compared to RM0.5 billion in 2021.

“This encouraging performance is due to the reopening of the country’s borders to international tourists on April 1, 2022, the scrapping of the need for COVID-19 quarantine and screening tests upon arrival in Malaysia since Aug 1, 2022,” he said in a statement today.

Mohd Uzir said overseas travel also recorded a significant impact, with expenditure totalling RM22.5 billion in 2022 compared to RM10.5 billion the previous year, which is an increase of 114.6 per cent.

For 2022, he said the tourism industry contributed 23.4 per cent to the total workforce, with 3.61 million people employed compared to 3.52 million people in 2021.

The tourism sector’s contributions to the GDP grew by 26.7 per cent when it contributed 14.0 per cent or RM251.5 billion in 2022 compared to 12.8 per cent or RM198.5 billion the previous year.

He said the Tourism Direct GDP in 2022 recorded RM47.9 billion compared to RM11.6 billion the previous year. – BERNAMA / pic MUHD AMIN NAHARUL