Malaysia on Track to Hit 33.1m Visitors Target for 2018

Malaysia is on track to achieve its target of 33.1 million tourist arrivals for 2018, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi. "We are keeping the target set [by the former government] earlier at 33.1 million. Based on the numbers so far, we are on track," he told reporters after launching Ice Age Alive 2018 at Malaysia Tourism Centre on Saturday, the Star reported. The 2018 target was announced by the ministry last December under the former Barisan Nasional Government. In his speech earlier, Mohamaddin said from January to April this year, more than 8.47 million international tourists had visited Malaysia, mainly from China, South Korea, Canada and United States. Tourist arrivals fell by 3.36% to 25.9 million last year from 26.8 million in 2016 while tourist arrivals to Malaysia for 2016 grew 4.0% year-on-year to 26.8 million. Mohamaddin added that his ministry is in the midst of studying all tourism projects. "We are studying the projects and we will keep those which are beneficial. With the change of government, it does not mean that we will cancel all projects initiated by the previous administration."