Malaysia launches new tourism plan after $25 billion loss in 2020
23 Dec 2020
Pedestrians cross a road in a business district of Kuala Lumpur. Reuters
Malaysia on Wednesday launched a 10-year plan to restart its battered tourism sector, which is estimated to have lost more than 100 billion ringgit ($24.61 billion) this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Southeast Asian country had initially targeted 30 million tourist arrivals through its ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ programme, up from 28 million last year.
But the global pandemic has crippled the tourism industry, which in 2019 had contributed 240.2 billion ringgit, or 15.9% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said.