Tourism Malaysia published its 2024 report on Malaysian Outbound and Domestic Travel Behaviour which shows different trends regarding traveller preferences, destinations of choice, as well as what influences drove Malaysians to travel in the past year.

35 percent of those surveyed travelled outside Malaysia for an overnight holiday trip in 2023, showing how much the travel sector has recovered since global governments began relaxing pandemic restrictions. 

Most Malaysians chose to travel to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, and the UK. Muslims also pointed out Saudi Arabia as a preferred destination for trips involving religious observance.

What drives Malaysians to travel?

Going on a much needed holiday was the main reason why 91 percent of Malaysians booked trips overseas.

Such decisions were mostly prompted by personal preferences rather than social influence, though around 27.9 percent claim to have been drawn in by ads from online travel platforms and an additional 8.6 percent were swayed by online ads or websites belonging to hotel chains and airlines.

With regard to how travellers chose to book their trips, the majority opted to book directly with their hotels and airlines of choice. Booking via online platforms came a far second and booking through traditional travel agents an even farther third.

For the most part, Malaysians’ travel decisions were mostly influenced by budget consideration, available discounts, social media, and word of mouth especially where overseas trips were concerned.

For this year, around 69 percent of those surveyed have made plans to travel overseas, with their destinations of choice being Southern Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Turkiye.

Does advertising in any form still help?

Of those surveyed, approximately 74 percent admitted awareness of the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia campaign.

Among those who admitted awareness, around 86 percent found the campaign’s presence on social media more compelling than conventional broadcast advertisements.

Thanks to the campaign, 55 percent of respondents chose to travel to domestic destinations over the past year. Among those that became hotspots thanks to the campaign are Langkawi, Penang, Sabah, Redang, Kuala Lumpur, and Melaka. 

For this year, Malaysians aim to visit the following domestic destinations: Langkawi, Penang, Sabah, Redang, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Terengganu, and Tioman.

Based on trends, it is possible that individual Malaysians will take at least 2.4 domestic holiday trips this year.