Malaysia sees arrivals rise

Malaysia recorded an overall growth of 1.2% tourist arrivals for the first five months of this year, from 9,323,827 in 2011 to 9,438,592 in 2012. Arrivals from Canada and the United States both saw a greater increase compared to the same period last year, 1.3% and 16.9%, respectively. Total receipts by tourists from January to May 2012 rose by 1.9%, generating US$6.89 billion for the countryÆs revenue. DatoÆ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, tourism minister, said that in line with the Malaysia Tourism Transformation Plan 2020, which aims to receive 36 million tourist arrivals by 2020, it is important for Malaysia to shift its focus on growing yield per tourist rather than to rely heavily on tourist arrival growth. (http://www.tourismmalaysia.ca)