KUALA LUMPUR– Malaysia’s tourism receipts in 2020 slumped 71.2 percent to 52.4 billion ringgit (about 12.51 billion U.S. dollars) from a year ago, as the COVID-19 pandemic dragged the industry, official data showed today.

The travel restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19 affected Malaysia’s tourism performance in 2020, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement.

According to DOSM, inbound tourism expenditure plummeted 84.6 percent year on year, to only 13.7 billion ringgit in 2020; domestic tourism receipts also declined by 58.3 percent year on year, to 38.6 billion ringgit.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is also reflected in the tourism direct gross domestic product, which declined by 72 percent to 28.5 billion ringgit, as compared to 102 billion ringgit in 2019.

DOSM data also showed that the tourism industry had generated 199.4 billion ringgit of gross value added of tourism industry (GVATI) last year, by contributing 14.1 percent to Malaysia’s gross domestic product.

Due to the government’s restriction in economic activities, to curb the spread of COVID-19, the GVATI shrank 17.1 percent year on year, from 240.5 billion ringgit in 2019. (1 U.S. dollar equals 4.19 ringgit)

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK