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Nearly 80% of visitors to Johor in 2025 were from Singapore, says Malaysian official, Singapore News
Travellers from Singapore have topped the list of most frequent foreign visitors entering Johor, accounting for over 11 million of the more than 14 million foreign arrivals recorded in the first half of 2025.
According to The Star, Johor Unity, Culture and Heritage Committee Chairman K. Raven Kumar said on Tuesday (Aug 19) that Singaporeans recorded the highest number of visits entering the state between January and July this year.
This number constituted more than 78 per cent of total visitorship to Johor.
"Besides Singapore, we are also seeing many visitors from Indonesia, China, India, the Philippines, European countries, and South Korea," said K. Raven.
"In fact, from January until March, more than two million tourists, including Malaysians, have stayed more than one night in Johor."
K. Raven pointed out that this was a positive and encouraging sign for the state government and local tourism industry players, as they gear up for Visit Johor Year 2026.
Malaysia's Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing also revealed that close to 10.3 million, or 10,288,256 tourists from Singapore visited Malaysia from January to June, The Star reported.
The number represented a 22.5 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024, said Tiong.
Tourists from China recorded the highest growth, with 2,178,857 arrivals between January and June this year — up from 1,607,413 during the same period last year — marking a significant 35.6 per cent increase. Efforts to promote Johor as a tourist destination
According to K. Raven, efforts are also underway to promote small towns across Johor's 10 districts as potential tourism destinations for both foreign and domestic tourists.
"There is a lot of potential in small towns to be part of our tourism destinations. As these towns are located near tourist attractions such as waterfalls, and many of them offer delicious local delicacies," said K. Raven.
"Part of the government's effort to promote small towns in other districts is by holding state-level events such as Majestic Johor and Festival Zapin outside of Johor Bahru."
He also shared that the government aims to attract 12 million tourists to Johor in 2026 by upgrading various tourism products and organising events to strengthen the state's position as a key tourism destination.
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