The UK remains the leading European source market to Malaysia.
It was the only European country to have delivered 370,591 visitors in 2008, according to Tourism Malaysia.
Following the double-digit increases in inbound tourism for the first 11 months of 2008, December saw a 29.7% increase in traffic from the UK.
The country registered 22.05 million tourists last year, surpassing the 21.5 million target set by the government. This was an overall increase of 5.1% compared to 2007.
Tourism Malaysia acting director general Amirrudin Abu said: “We have achieved an all-time high figure of 22,052,488 tourist arrivals. This is certainly an accomplishment considering the fact that 2008 had been a very trying time for us and a very challenging one as well.”
by Phil Davies
