Foreign tourist numbers set to rise in Johor until next year

MORE foreign tourists are expected to visit Johor in the coming months.

Most of the expected visitors are from Indonesia, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Europe and the Middle East, says Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Johor chairman K. Subramaniam.

“Our members have been receiving an increase in inbound tour bookings in recent months.”

He said the situation would be good for the Johor-based tour and travel agents as their businesses were slowly recovering after a three-year hiatus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are expecting the situation to continue until next year if the weak ringgit doesn’t see improvement,” he added.

Subramaniam said an increase in inbound bookings would help to mitigate a decline in outbound trips by Malaysians.

He said that while Malaysians were still travelling despite the weaker ringgit, the majority of them seem to be putting overseas trips on hold.

He noted that Melaka, Langkawi and Penang were popular with Johor residents who were postponing overseas trips due to the unfavourable exchange between the ringgit and the US dollar.

“We are witnessing a decline between 20% and 30% in the recent months for our outbound packages.”

He said, however, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam remained popular destinations.

Subramaniam said European countries, Turkiye, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam were now quoting their ground arrangement rates in US dollars to Malaysian tour agents handling outbound trips.

Johor South SME Association advisor Teh Kee Sin said he was surprised that Pahang outdid Johor in the tourism subsectors, including the wholesale and retail trade, food and beverage, and accommodation.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia listed Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang as having outperformed the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth, surpassing the national average in 2022.

“We are so close to Singapore yet we are not even listed although Singaporeans, with the strong Singapore currency, like coming to Johor Baru to shop and dine,” said Teh.

He said Singapore with its six million population remained a big market for Johor tourism, in addition to the republic’s 6.31 million international visitor arrivals last year, which was an increase from 2021.

He said Singapore was mainly a metropolis and Johor should bank on its nature tourism to attract the international tourists coming via Singapore.

“We have beautiful beaches and islands off Mersing in South China Sea, mountains in the northern parts of Johor for hiking and climbing, besides agrotourism.”

He stressed that efforts were needed to get Singaporeans and the republic’s foreign tourists to extend their stay in Johor instead of bypassing the state to go to Melaka, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

“Health or medical tourism is another segment that Johor needs to develop in order to strengthen the state’s position as a medical hub in the southern region,” said Teh.

He added that there were many rich Indonesians in the nearby Riau Islands whom Tourism Johor could target for medical tourism at Johor Baru’s many private specialist hospitals. — By ZAZALI MUSA