JAKARTA, Jan 17 — Tourism Malaysia (TM) is anticipating a resurgence in the number of Indonesian tourists visiting Malaysia in 2024, aiming to return to pre-pandemic levels following a significant growth in the arrivals last year.

Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia attracted 3.62 million Indonesian visitors in 2019, according to TM international promotions division (Asean) senior deputy director Jamilah Abd Halim.

Speaking to reporters at the ‘WebBeds Indonesia Tabletop’ event, she said the figure increased to 1.418 million in 2022, and the period from January to September 2023 recorded 2,227,991 arrivals.

"Indonesia is an important market for Malaysia. With the market showing significant growth in the arrivals in 2023, we hope for this year we can achieve the pre-pandemic performance,” she said.

Commenting on WebBeds’ events here, and in Surabaya on Thursday, Jamilah said they present a great opportunity for Malaysia to connect with the industry and communicate plans and updates for the year leading up to Visit Malaysia 2026.

WebBeds’ events enable representatives from 38 hotels and hospitality companies from Malaysia and Singapore to meet face-to-face with leading Indonesian travel agencies.

According to WebBeds, a major B2B accommodation provider, Indonesians made up nearly 15 per cent of business for Singapore’s hotels and saw over 50 per cent year-on-year growth for Malaysian hotels in 2023.

Within these totals, arrivals from Jakarta and Surabaya comprised over 75 per cent of Indonesian visitors.

"With their proximity, shared cultural links, and strong connectivity, Indonesia has always been an important source market for Malaysian and Singaporean hotels.

"These connections will become even more important in the coming years as rising intra-Asean travel drives demand,” WebBeds Apac Sourcing senior vice president Cyndi Ng said. — Bernama