Tourism Malaysia will officially launch the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign on 3 January 2026, and it will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and attended by Malaysian Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.
Malaysia is gearing up for an exciting year with Visit Malaysia 2026 (VM2026) which is aimed at showcasing the country’s rich cultural heritage, breathtaking natural landscapes, and world-renowned hospitality, aiming to welcome more than 47 million international visitors and RM369 billion (about US$81.3 billion) in 2026 as announced by Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Tiong King Sing. This figure has been raised from the original target of 35 million visitors.
Malaysia recorded 24.5 million visitors between January and July 2025, a 16.8% increase compared with 21 million in the same period last year. In 2024, Malaysia received 38 million foreign visitors, an increase of 31% compared with the previous year.
The minister also said visitor spending had surged by 174%, reaching RM161.9 billion (about US$40 billion). Citing the Tourism Satellite Account 2024 report, he said the tourism sector contributed 15% to the national gross domestic product – a 7.4% increase from 2023.
Malaysia to launch 21 new international flight routes
Malaysia will introduce 21 new international flight routes from December until mid-January 2026 as part of preparations for Visit Malaysia Year 2026. The new services comprise 16 scheduled flights and five charter flights to be operated by 10 airlines, linking Malaysia with destinations across Asean, East Asia, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.
These routes will add 81 direct flights to Malaysia, with a maximum capacity of 13,936 passengers per week. The new flight services will involve eight countries and 17 destinations, connecting nine Malaysian airports — Kuala Lumpur, Subang, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Kuching, Ipoh and Langkawi.
East Asia remains the main focus of the route expansion, with seven scheduled flights and three charter flights connecting Malaysia to eight cities in China. In addition, new scheduled flights will be launched to Osaka, Japan, and Busan, South Korea, while Taichung, Taiwan, will receive charter flight services.
Within Asean, six scheduled flights will connect Malaysia with Singapore, Jakarta and Medan in Indonesia, as well as Cebu in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Colombo, Sri Lanka, will each receive one scheduled flight.
Most of the new routes will be operated by local airlines. Batik Air will handle eight scheduled flights and one charter flight, while AirAsia will launch one scheduled flight and one charter flight, in addition to one scheduled flight by Firefly.
Foreign carriers expanding operations in Malaysia include six airlines from China — Loong Air, Shandong Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Juneyao Air — which will operate five scheduled flights and three charter flights. The remaining new flights will be operated by South Korea’s T’way Air.
