Malaysia catat lebih 21 juta ketibaan pelancong bagi separuh pertama 2026

Malaysia has recorded over 21 million arrivals of international visitors in the first half of 2026, marking a 2.5% increase despite geopolitical tensions in the Asia region causing 4,111 scheduled flights to be canceled. Tourism Malaysia and Immigration Department data show 21,118,039 arrivals documented between January and June, up 514,958 compared to the same period last year.

However, this is the lowest growth rate since the post-pandemic recovery began, with only 26 out of 50 major source markets recording a decline. "This is mainly due to the impact of geopolitical tension in the Asia region on international flight operations, which subsequently dampened outbound travel demand worldwide," Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture, said at a media briefing to present the First Half Performance Report 2026.

Europe and the Asia region were among the hardest-hit, with France the only one of three European markets to record growth, while arrivals from Britain and Germany declined. Jerman set a new record for negative growth since tourism rebounded post-pandemic. Arrivals from Turkey, Russia, Spain, and Poland increased, while countries such as the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Egypt were hit to varying degrees.

"The conflict also led to an increase in international fuel prices, raising travel costs and slowing travel from other regions, including South Asia and Taiwan and South Korea in East Asia," Tiong said. Despite this, the growth continued from Singapore, the Philippines, China, Central Asia, Oceania, and North America, helping Malaysia maintain an overall 2.5% increase.

Tiong said Malaysia received 88,058 international flights in the first six months of the year, compared to the 91,486 flights originally scheduled. Of these, 4,111 flights were canceled due to geopolitical tension, but the addition of 683 new flights meant only 3,428 or 3.7% fewer than originally scheduled. "The impact of the conflict in the Asia region was clearly reflected in flight operations.

Since the conflict began in February, the number of scheduled flights canceled each month has continued to rise," Tiong said. According to Tiong, the real seating capacity amounts to approximately 17.63 million, 3.9% less than the original target of 18.34 million. However, this is still a 6% increase compared to the same period last year, with 16.627 million seats.

"Malaysia's international flight network continues to expand with the introduction of 23 new routes, 12 new airline services to Malaysia, and nine charter services between January and July," he said. He said flights from Southeast Asia recorded the largest capacity increase, adding more than 500,000 seats or 11.9%, followed by Asean with 376,423 seats or 4.5%.

"The biggest drop was seen in flights from the Asia region, when capacity fell from over one million in the first six months of last year to 806,532 in the first half of this year," he said. Tiong said the impact of canceled flights also played a role in the slower growth of international visitor arrivals to Malaysia. He said Malaysia Tourism, Arts, and Culture Department is now strengthening marketing strategies in the Asia market, especially Southeast Asia and East Asia, as a response to the changing global situation.

According to Tiong, Malaysia Visit 2027 will continue to maintain the momentum of the country's tourism industry growth.