Shopping tops the activity list of global travelers when in Malaysia

Based on the survey by Tourism Malaysia, shopping remained as the second major activity engaged by tourists in Malaysia for the first quarter this year. The top five shopping areas for foreign tourists were Bukit Bintang, George Town – Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Petaling Street and Johor Bahru. Clothes and apparels constituted 49.6% of items purchased by tourists, followed by handicraft/souvenirs (45.5%), shoes (21.7%), cosmetic (16.4%), and chocolates (13.3%).

Tourist expenditure on shopping took the top spot from accommodation for the first quarter of 2015, with an increase of 10.8% to RM4.9 billion against the same period last year.

Accommodation and shopping remained as the two top components of tourist expenditure for the first quarter, constituting 54.4%. The growth in shopping expenditure was dominated by regional and medium-haul countries, namely Brunei, Singapore, Japan, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

Factors that contributed to these positive performances included the favourable exchange rate, which was advantageous to foreign tourists and had encouraged them to spend more. Besides that, hoteliers were also offering competitive rates to tourists. As a result, tourist expenditure on shopping was higher than accommodation and they stayed longer in the country.