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Focus Malaysia
4 days ago
- Business
- Focus Malaysia
Arrival figures must be reported correctly
VNEXPRESS, an online newspaper based in Vietnam has done it again by publishing 'Malaysia beats Thailand to become Southeast Asia tourism champion' in its June 3 report that Malaysia received 10.1 million foreign arrivals in the first quarter of this year, and Thailand 9.55 million. But tourist arrivals to Malaysia from January to March this year was 6,366,801, and the 10.1 million came about by adding another 3,736,711 excursionist arrivals. For apple-to-apple comparison, tourist arrival figures are normally used, not excursionist or visitor arrivals. It started after I had written ' Malaysia recorded 29 million visitor arrivals in 2023 ', which was published by Focus Malaysia on Feb 20, 2024. It was picked up by VnExpress and published on Feb 23 under 'Malaysia beats Thailand to become most-visited country in Southeast Asia'. However, my first paragraph explicitly stated that in 2023, Malaysia recorded almost 29 million visitor arrivals and they comprised 20,141,846 foreign tourists and 8,822,462 foreign excursionists, or a total of 28,964,308 foreign visitors, without comparing with other countries. The number of tourists to Thailand that year was more than 28.15 million, far higher than the 20.1 million to Malaysia. Many tourism industry personnel and the media could not distinguish between tourists and visitors, and often made fatal mistakes when reporting arrival figures. Interestingly, Tourism Malaysia is up to speed by updating its Infographic on Visitor Performance to Malaysia until April this year. Tourist arrivals for the first four months of 2025 were 8,356,921 and 5.6% below that of 2019 in the same period. At this rate, the total number for this year will be around 25 million, way below the 31.3 million projected by Tourism Malaysia in February. Fortunately, excursionist arrivals surged by 64%, from 3,048,205 in the first four months of 2019 to 5,027,263. As such, total visitor arrivals to Malaysia in 2025 is likely to reach an historic high of 40 million, compared to 35 million in 2019. Asean countries, especially Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, will continue to provide the bulk of foreign visitors to Malaysia for a very long time. Nevertheless, the greatest growth potential is from the two most populous countries in the world, as long as citizens from China and India are granted visa-free entry to Malaysia, along with over 160 other countries around the globe that have long enjoyed this facility. While Tourism Malaysia continues to adjust its promotions and strategies to suit ever changing source markets, it is up to individual tourism industry players to exploit the full potential of their niche markets that they excel in. The performance of our inbound tourism is measured by two key factors, namely tourism expenditures and foreign arrivals. Both figures must be measured and reported correctly. ‒ June 5, 2025 YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant. The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia. Main image: AP Photo/Vincent Thian
Focus Malaysia
24-04-2025
- Focus Malaysia
Don't be too quick on the draw
I GREW up watching cowboy movies (Westerns) in the 1950s and 1960s. The most dramatic scenes of these films would be 'showdowns at high noon' when gunslingers confront each other for a duel and the one slower to draw his gun or miss would drop dead. I go through about 20 news websites several times a day and read reports and opinions I find useful or interesting. Instead of responding by making short comments, I prefer to write a full length opinion piece to adequately explain and share my perspectives. Over the years, I have grown wiser and would not be too quick on the draw. This is because reports on the same incident could vary according to reporters' understanding, or the speaker could later claim to be misquoted, or the report incomplete, or events are still unfolding. Recently, there was a Bernama report about a woman who was charged in court on April 21. The heading for one of the reports read 'Mum of 6-month-old child jailed 3 months for stealing bread, eggs, groceries'. I was immediately riled up. Like other readers, I too have come across many previous reports of relatively heavy sentences meted out for petty crimes, such as stealing foods from supermarkets, while those who have unlawfully taken large sums of money in white-collar crimes received lighter sentences. As such, it was no surprise that former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim criticised the three-month prison sentence calling it another 'ridiculous punishment' and asked: 'How do we train our magistrates?', as reported in 'Zaid slams 'ridiculous' 3-month jail term for mum who stole food'. But it was not another case of a young mother stealing food to feed her baby. The 38-year-old woman had a haul of 30 items, which included personal care products, bread, eggs, biscuits, soy milk, tissues and toothpaste, worth a total of RM374.69. Hopefully, she will learn from the jail sentence and turn over a new leaf. The public should not treat thefts, including shoplifting, lightly. Those who start off with petty theft will continue stealing and graduating to more and more expensive items until they are finally caught. In any case, everyone deserves a second chance, including the 38-year-old woman, more so she has a 6-month-old child. Mercifully, her husband has just found a job after the family had moved from Sarawak to Kuala Lumpur. Sadly, our society's safety nets are inadequate, as individuals and families ought to be protected from the negative effects of unemployment, poverty and other economic hardships. Safety nets must be in place to provide a basic level of support to help people navigate difficult times. – April 24, 2025 YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant. The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia. Main image: Reuters
