Malaysia's tourism revenues plunge 71.2%

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 23 Malaysia's tourism revenues in 2020 slumped 71.2 per cent to 52.4 billion ringgit ($12 billion) from a year ago in the wake of Covid-induced bans and restrictions, official data revealed on Thursday.

The travel restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 has affected Malaysia's tourism performance in 2020, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement.

According to DOSM, the inbound tourism expenditure plummeted 84.6 per cent year on year to only 13.7 billion ringgit in 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.

Domestic tourism revenues also declined by 58.3 per cent year on year to 38.6 billion ringgit.

The impact of the pandemic is also reflected in the tourism direct gross domestic product, which has declined by 72 per cent to 28.5 billion ringgit as compared to 102 billion ringgit in 2019.

DOSM data also showed that the tourism industry had generated 199.4 billion ringgit of gross value added of tourism industry (GVATI) last year by contributing 14.1 per cent to Malaysia's GDP.

Due to the government's restriction in economic activities to curb the spread of Covid-19, the GVATI had shrank 17.1 per cent year on year from 240.5 billion ringgit in 2019.