Malaysia’s russian revolution

New figures have revealed the true extent of the Russian impact on Malaysia…

The latest figures to be released by the Immigration Department of Malaysia have shown a 51.5% growth in Russian tourist arrivals in April 2008 compared to April 2007.

The growth in Russian tourist arrivals has been steady since the beginning of 2008 with 7.8% growth recorded in Jan 08 (compared to Jan 07), 32.6% in Feb 08 (compared to Feb 07) and 50.8% in Mar 08 (compared to Mar 07).

In total over 1.7 million tourists visited the Southeast Asian country in April 2008 and a 0.8% increase for the period Jan – Apr 08 was recorded compared to the same period last year. Overall Singapore remained the biggest tourist generating market for Malaysia with 867,067 Singaporean nationals visiting the country in April 08; the UK came in at 9th place with 31,952 visitors, 24.5% growth compared to April 07.

“These increases in arrivals certainly confirm Malaysia’s worldwide appeal as a top tourism destination. Steve Worboys, MD of Malaysian property agent Experience International comments, “The increase in tourist arrivals both overall and in the Russian sector spells good news for the Malaysian economy”.