The Economic Benefits of Tourism in Malaysia and Southeast Asia

The continued rise in the tourism industry is largely driven by low-cost air travel and a fast-growing middle class across Asia Pacific. While receipts in South East Asia continue to grow, Malaysia's potential remains enormous, with tourism earning RM19 billion (USD5.3 billion) in 2013, outdoing other South East Asian counterparts such as Indonesia. What is the broad impact of tourism for Malaysia beyond the numbers and what are some longterm strategies which could be deployed?