Malaysia is a country in South-East Asia, located partly on a peninsula of the Asian mainland and partly on the northern third of the island of Borneo. West Malaysia shares a border with Thailand, is connected by a causeway and a bridge (Malaysia-Singapore Second Link) to the island state of Singapore, and has coastlines on the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca. East Malaysia (Borneo) shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia.
The country is ranked as the 9th most visited place in the world.[1]
In an effort to diversify the economy and make Malaysia’s economy less dependent on exports the government has pushed to increase tourism in Malaysia. As a result tourism has become Malaysia’s third largest source of income from foreign exchange,[2] and accounted for 7% of Malaysia's economy as of 2005.[3]
The government agency in charge of promoting tourism in Malaysia is Tourism Malaysia or the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) [1]. On 20 May 1987, the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) was established and TDC moved to this new ministry. TDC existed from 1972 to 1992, when it became the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), through the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act, 1992. Its vision is to make the tourism industry a prime contributor to the socio-economic development of the nation, and aims to market Malaysia as a premier destination of excellence in the region. Tourism Malaysia now has 34 overseas and 11 marketing representative offices.
In 1999, Malaysia launched a worldwide marketing campaign called "Malaysia, Truly Asia" which was largely successful in bringing in over 7.4 million tourists.[4]The extra revenue recently generated by tourism helped the country’s economy during the economic crisis of 2008. However, it is mainly Malaysia’s heavy government regulation of the economy which enabled it to be barely affected by the recent 2008 global economic crisis.[5] In recent years tourism has been threatened by the negative effects of the growing industrial economy. Due to the large amounts of air and water pollution along with deforestation, tourism has decreased in affected areas.[6]
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Government policy[edit]
The Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism (MOCAT) was established in 1987 under which the TDC was incorporated. TDC existed from 1972 to 1992, when it became the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB), through the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act, 1992.[7] Tourism Malaysia aims to market Malaysia as a premier destination of excellence in the region.[citation needed]
Tourist arrivals in Malaysia 2012[edit]
In 2012, Malaysia recorded 25.03 million tourist arrivals;[8] a growth of 1.3% compared to 2011. Total tourist receipts increased by 3.9%, generating MYR 60.6 billion.[9] United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) listed Malaysia as the 10th most visited country in 2012.[10]
| Rank | country | Visitors | Total of Tourist Arrivals(%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Singapore | 13,010,000 | 51.99 |
| 2 |  Indonesia | 2,380,000 | 9.52 |
| 3 |  China | 1,560,000 | 6.23 |
| 4 |  Thailand | 1,260,000 | 5.05 |
| 5 |  Brunei | 1,250,000 | 5.03 |
| 6 |  India | 690,000 | 2.76 |
| 7 |  Philippines | 510,000 | 2.03 |
| 8 |  Australia | 500,000 | 2.03 |
| 9 |  Japan | 470,000 | 1.88 |
| 10 |  United Kingdom | 400,000 | 1.61 |
Nationalization of Malaysia Airlines[edit]
The tourism industry came under some pressure in 2014 when the national carrier Malaysia Airlines had one of its planes disappear in March of that year, while another was brought down by a missile over Ukraine in July, resulting in the loss of a total 537 passengers and crew. The state of the company, which had been unprofitable for 3 years, prompted the government in August 2014 to nationalize the airline by buying up the 30 per cent it did not already own.[11]
Destinations and attractions[edit]
Further information: List of tourist attractions in Malaysia
Cities[edit]
- Kuala Lumpur – the capital and largest city of Malaysia.
- Petronas Twin Towers – World's tallest twin towers and third and fourth tallest singular towers, standing adjacent to one of the busiest shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur, Suria KLCC.
- Golden Triangle (Bukit Bintang and Imbi) – Kuala Lumpur's busiest commercial district containing five-star hotels, restaurants to high-end shopping malls.
- George Town – the capital of Penang. George Town is one of two cultural World Heritage Sites in Malaysia.
- Gurney Drive – a popular seafront promenade, filled with condominiums and hotels. It is one of the busiest streets in Penang.
- Ipoh – capital of Perak, famous for its Chinese food, tin mines and limestone mountains and caves.
- Alor Star – capital of Kedah, the state of the Paddy fields.
- Johor Bahru – capital of Johor, and gateway to Singapore.
- Kangar – capital of Perlis, and gateway to Thailand.
- Kota Kinabalu – capital of Sabah.
- Kota Bharu – capital of Kelantan.
- Kuala Terengganu – capital of Terengganu, famous for the turtles and beaches.
- Kuantan – capital of Pahang, noted for its many beaches.
- Kuching – capital of Sarawak, the Cat City of Malaysia.
- Melaka – a historical city in Malaysia. This is the other cultural World Heritage Site in Malaysia.
- Miri – the resort city of Sarawak is the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Mulu caves and numerous national parks like Niah caves, Lambir Hills National Parkand Loagan Bunut National Park. Noted for its prstine coral reefs and ecotourism attractions too.
- Seremban – the capital of Negeri Sembilan, and the nearest cities to Port Dickson.
- Putrajaya – the administrative centre of Malaysia, known for its lavish buildings, bridges and man-made lakes.
- Petaling Jaya – a satellite city located in the state of Selangor, and is in the proximity of Kuala Lumpur. It has the most commercial complexes in Malaysia.
Beside the main cities, there other town and places in Malaysia offer some special tourist attraction. Such as in Taiping, Perak for their landscape and local attraction. Teluk Intan for their Leaning tower. Genting Highlands, Cameron Highlands and Bukit Tinggi in Pahang for a cool climate. Muar in Johor is famous for its food. Miri is the official tourism-city and resort city of Sarawak and Sibu in Sarawak is famous for its landscape and parks.
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