A NEWSPAPER report with the headline “State draws 17 million domestic tourists despite pandemic” caught my attention recently.
Perak tourism committee chairman Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohammed Radzi disclosed that the figure was a drop from the 21 million received in 2019.
However, the Department of Statistics stated in its Domestic Tourism Survey for 2020 that Perak received 13.2 million domestic visitors, and they include excursionists on day trips that returned home the same day, and tourists that stayed overnight away from home.
Normally, about one third of all domestic visitors are tourists and over 68% of domestic tourists stay at free accommodation provided by relatives and friends. It was more likely that Perak received four million tourists last year and 1.32 million stayed in paid accommodation.
She also said: “About 4.9 million people stayed overnight last year compared to about 10 million in 2019.
“This is despite the fact that borders were only open for several months, namely in January and February, then from July to November before the MCO was implemented again.”
In any case, Perak had done relatively well in domestic tourism, as the state received 21.1 million visitors in 2019, more than the 19.8 million for Sarawak.
Three other regions with more visitors were Selangor with 33.6 million, Kuala Lumpur 22.6 million and Sabah 22.0 million.
Last year, Perak rose to second with 13.2 million domestic visitors after Selangor with 19.7 million. The other three in the top five were Kuala Lumpur received 12.4 million, Sabah 10.3 million and Kedah 10.1 million.
Nationwide, total number of domestic visitors had dropped from 239.1 million in 2019 to 131.7 million last year. Likewise, total number of trips decreased from 332.4 million to 147 million, and total expenditure down from RM103.2 bil to RM40.4 bil.
Some may wonder why states like Penang and Melaka, which are popular holiday destinations for the local population, were not included in the top five.
Again, we ought to remember that domestic tourism includes intrastate travel and not limited to visitors from other states.
Hence, Sabah and Sarawak were often among the top five for domestic visitors, although they are far from each other and even more distant from peninsular Malaysia, as people travelling within the state, be they excursionists or tourists, are also counted as domestic visitors. – Aug 12, 2021
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and an ASEAN Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant and writer, and researcher for the Travel Industry Occupational Framework published by the Department of Skills Development (JPK).
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
