DOMESTIC tourism in Malaysia recorded total expenditure of RM59.2 billion in 2022 compared with RM17.5 billion in 2021, said a report released by the Statistics Department today.

The report was based on the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), which is a statistical framework to measure tourism industry growth and its contributions to the gross domestic product (GDP).

Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said there was a significant increase in three main components in the domestic tourism spending in 2022 – shopping (42.1%), food and beverages (16.4%) and fuel for vehicles (14.9%).

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

Uzir said overseas travel recorded a significant impact, with expenditure totalling RM22.5 billion in 2022 compared with RM10.5 billion the previous year – an increase of 114.6%.

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

The tourism sector’s contributions to the GDP grew by 26.7% when it contributed 14% (RM251.5 billion) in 2022 compared with 12.8% (RM198.5 billion) the previous year.

He said the Tourism Direct GDP in 2022 was RM47.9 billion, compared with RM11.6 billion the previous year. – Bernama, September 20, 2023.