TOURISM PUBLICATIONS PROVIDE INSIGHT INTO MALAYSIA’S TOURISM PERFORMANCE

In the first quarter of this year, Labuan recorded an average occupancy rate (AOR) of 67.1%, making it the state with the third highest hotel occupancy after Pahang (76.9%) and Kuala Lumpur (68.5%).

About 80% of the Federal Territory’s annual hotel guests are Malaysians who check in at among the 40 hotels in the area.

Within a span of ten years, Malaysia has nearly double the number of hotels from 1,568 in 2003 to 3,094 in 2013. Occupancy rates have increased as well; from 53.3% AOR in 2003 to 62.6% AOR in 2013, a ten percentage point increase in a decade.

These figures were revealed at a recent meeting that Tourism Malaysia held with hoteliers to share the findings of their surveys.

As a result of this and other recent surveys carried out, Tourism Malaysia has published three books on Malaysia’s tourism industry, i.e. the Malaysia Accommodation Directory 2014, Malaysia Tourism Key Performance Indicators 2013 and Malaysia Tourists Profile 2013 by Selected Markets, giving in-depth information that would help industry players to measure their performance and develop strategies to move forward.

The publications are the result of data gathered from sources such as the Immigrations Department of Malaysia, Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Malaysia Association of Hotels, Malaysia Budget Hotel Association and local authorities. Findings from various surveys conducted by Tourism Malaysia such as the Departing Visitors Survey, Hotel Occupancy Rates Survey and Hotel Facilities Survey are also presented in the three publications.

Besides tourist arrivals and receipts, the publications also examine such things as when people prefer to travel, which states they like to visit, what activities they engage in during their stay in Malaysia, how much they spend on various aspects of a holiday, etc. Information on hotel occupancy rates, flight connectivity to Malaysia and the Malaysia Homestay Experience programme are also shared.

The publications are useful for potential investors, tourism industry trade players, academics, media and those interested in Malaysia’s tourism industry. All the books are priced at RM50 except for the Malaysia Accommodation Directory 2014 which is RM80. They can be purchased at Tourism Malaysia (Finance Division) in Putrajaya, tel: +603 8891 8000.

The Malaysia Tourism Key Performance Indicators 2013

The publication provides insight into the performance of Malaysia’s tourism industry with data on tourist arrivals and receipts focusing on major markets, weekly flight frequency, hotel rooms supply, Homestay, total visitors to national parks and more.

The Malaysia Tourists Profile 2013 by Selected Markets

The Malaysia Tourists Profile 2013 is reported annually to provide an ongoing assessment of tourist behaviour based on several parameters such as average length of stay, average per capita, expenditure and other behavioural characteristics. It contains details of tourist demographics, main purpose to visit, states visited, items purchased, activities engaged and top 20 markets.

The Malaysia Accommodation Directory 2014

The Malaysia Accommodation Directory 2014 lists all types of accommodation that have at least 10 rooms. The hotels are classified according to an international-standard star rating system with information on the facilities available at each hotel to assist tourists to make their accommodation choice.