Malaysia plans to accept 80 000 tourists from Russia in 2023

In 2023, Malaysia plans to restore the Russian tourist flow to the level of 2019, when almost 80 000 Russians visited the country. Only January has already given 20% of the planned indicators.

The tourism industry in Malaysia is actively recovering, said Jeffrey Munir, director of the representative office of the Malaysian national tourism office in Russia. At the end of 2022, Malaysia received more than 10,1 million foreign tourists, of which 33 003 tourists came from Russia. Thus, the Russian tourist flow has recovered by more than 40% from pre-pandemic 2019, when the country was visited by 79 984 Russians, said Jeffrey Munir.

In 2023, the inbound tourist flow will continue its active recovery. Malaysia's target for 2023 in terms of total tourist flow is 16,1 million tourists. Plan for Russia is to reach the values of 2019: 80 thousand tourists.

In the first month of 2023 alone, Malaysia received 14,3 thousand Russians, which is almost 50% of the total volume of 2022 and 20% of the forecasted values for 2023.

If direct flights are launched, according to Geoffrey Munir, the Russian tourist flow to Malaysia could reach 200 000 Russian tourists. Foreign airlines offer flights to Malaysia with good connections in Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Istanbul. A new connecting flight via Sharjah is also expected.

Group tourists also like to combine Malaysia with holidays in other countries. Popular tour options are Malaysia + Singapore, Malaysia + Indonesia, Malaysia + Thailand. Most Russian tourists consider Malaysia as a beach and sightseeing destination. However, tourism opportunities in Malaysia are much wider.