Petronas Twin Towers (Source: Reuters)Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – A total of 25.7 million international visitors came to Malaysia in 2015, down 6.3 percent from the previous year, according to the country’s Tourism Promotion Board (Malaysia Tourism).
The board’s Deputy Director General Azizan Noordin said despite the reduction, the number of Chinese visitors rose by 1.3 percent, reflecting the positive effect of efforts to attract more tourists from China.
Malaysia’s tourism sector aims for 30.5 million foreign visitors in 2016 for total revenues of 100 billion RM (almost 24.3 billion USD).
Towards the goal, the sector has been holding promotion events across the world. In January, Malaysia Tourism sent delegations to India and the ASEAN Tourism Forum in the Philippines.
At the same time, the board will organise more than 250 cultural, sports and entertainment events throughout the year to attract visitors.
Tourism is the sixth largest economic sector in Malaysia, contributing 14.9 percent of the national GDP in 2014.
The country has also set the target of welcoming 36 million international visitors in 2020.-VNA
