By Media Selangor Team
SHAH ALAM, June 19 — Selangor continues to lead in domestic tourism, recording 34.5 million visitors last year, according to latest data by the Statistics Department (DOSM).
The figure represents a 25 per cent increase compared to the 27.6 million domestic visitors it attracted in 2023, and is the fourth consecutive year the state has topped the domestic tourism charts.
In 2021 and 2022, the state welcomed 10 million and 22 million domestic visitors, respectively.
This sustained growth, aided by a successful domestic tourism campaign, has been hailed as one of the key contributors to Selangor’s impressive gross domestic product.
According to the Performance of Domestic Tourism Malaysia in First Quarter of 2025 and Annual 2024 Report released today, Kuala Lumpur logged the second-highest domestic visitors last year at 27 million, followed by Perak with 21.8 million visitors.
Overall, the number of domestic visitors across the country rose by 21.7 per cent to 260.1 million in 2024, compared to 213.7 million in 2023.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the increase in domestic travel activity was notably supported by seasonal factors in the first quarter, including Chinese New Year, Ramadan, and preparation for Aidilfitri and the school holidays.
Total expenditure by domestic visitors also grew substantially in 2024, reaching RM106.7 billion, an increase of 25.6 per cent from RM84.9 billion in 2023.
This expansion was underpinned by increased spending from both tourists and excursionists, who registered growth rates of 20.6 per cent and 33.8 per cent respectively, he said.
“Tourists continued to contribute the largest share of total expenditure at 59 per cent, although this represented a slight decline from 61.5 per cent in the previous year. The average length of stay increased moderately to 2.49 nights in 2024 from 2.45 nights in 2023, indicating a gradual extension in the duration of domestic trips.”
Overall, Uzir said Malaysia’s domestic tourism sector in 2024 demonstrated robust and broad-based growth, driven by increased visitor numbers, higher expenditure, and evolving travel patterns.
While traditional travel purposes such as visiting relatives remain dominant, he said growing interest in leisure, events, and experiential tourism reflect an increasingly dynamic and diversified market.
“Visiting relatives and friends remained the primary purpose of domestic travel, accounting for 34.6 per cent of all trips in 2024, a slight increase from 33.6 per cent in 2023. Conversely, travel motivated by shopping declined to 27.6 per cent from 32.6 per cent the previous year.
“Despite this decrease, shopping continued to be the largest expenditure category, constituting 37.4 per cent of total domestic tourism spending, followed by food and beverages at 16.2 per cent and purchase of automotive fuel at 12.7 per cent,” Uzir said.
[caption id="attachment_341263" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin speaks on the Ruang Bicara programme on Bernama TV, on January 4, 2024. — Picture by BERNAMA[/caption]
According to him, 97.6 per cent of domestic visitors travelled by land last year, while air travel accounted for only 2.1 per cent.
In terms of accommodation preferences, 60.4 per cent of tourists stayed with relatives or friends.
“Meanwhile, the proportion of tourists opting for paid accommodations increased, with hotel stays representing 21.7 per cent of overnight stays and homestay usage rising from 6.7 per cent in 2023 to 8.6 per cent in 2024.”
As for the first quarter of this year, Uzir said the number of domestic visitors in Malaysia surged to 69.7 million, an 18.9 per cent increase from last year, while domestic tourism expenditure increased 22.1 per cent year-on-year to RM29.4 billion.
“For quarter-on-quarter comparison, domestic visitors increased 4.3 per cent as compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. The number of domestic tourists in the first quarter 2025 increased 37.6 per cent compared to the first quarter 2024, recording 25.2 million tourists.”
A domestic tourist is a resident who travels within the country and stays at least one night, while a domestic visitor includes overnight tourists and same-day (excursionist) travellers.
