Brunei top 5 market for Malaysian tourism

By Azlan Othman

Brunei is among the top five markets for Malaysian tourism as 1.17 million tourists from the Sultanate visited the neighbouring country last year, Bernama reported.

In December alone last year, some 145,386 Bruneian tourists crossed the border.

Limbang, Labuan, Kota Kinabalu and Miri remain the main attractions for Bruneians, lured by the favourable exchange rate.

In addition, the fruit season, 'Tamu' market and seafood restaurants also attract Bruneians to hop across the border, besides enjoying the scenic view of Kota Kinabalu.

Tourist arrivals to Malaysia hit 20.97 million in 2007, surpassing the 20.1-million target set by the Malaysian government. It brought in total revenue of RM46.1 billion, exceeding the target of RM44.5 billion.

Tourism Malaysia said tourist arrivals for 2007, which coincided with the Visit Malaysia Year, represented an increase of 19.5 per cent compared with 2006.

Singapore remained the top market with 10.49 million tourists, followed by Indonesia (1.80 million), Thailand (1.62 million), Brunei (1.17 million), China (689,293), India (422,452), Japan (367,567), the Philippines (327,140), Australia (302,363) and Britain (276,213).

December arrivals rose by 22.5 per cent to 1.88 million from the same period in 2006. Total arrivals from Singapore were 935,439, followed by Indonesia (171,615), Thailand (162,208), Brunei (145,386), China (72,409), India (36,800), Australia (34,810), Japan (32,337), the Philippines (28,425) and Britain (27,848).

Major markets that recorded double-digit growth in December were Brunei (85.4 per cent), Indonesia (64.9 per cent), India (58.3 per cent), Australia (55.9 per cent), Britain (34.9 per cent), the Philippines (33.1 per cent) and China (32.4 per cent).

Brunei is the third biggest contributor to Malaysia's tourism revenue after Singapore and Indonesia with RM10.8 billion and RM1.7 billion respectively.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin