Study: M’sians Visited Indonesia The Most in 2023 But Spent The Least Money There Compared to Other Tourists

Malaysians love to travel overseas it seems, especially to countries in the Southeast Asian region.

Besides making up the most number of global tourists in Thailand last year with over 4.6 million travellers, we also topped the number of international tourist arrivals in Indonesia in 2023.

1.9 million Malaysians visited Indonesia last year, more than any other nationalities

Source: Stijn Dijkstra l Pexels

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According to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) as shared by Katadata Media, a total of 1.9 million Malaysians travelled to Indonesia last year, more than any other nationalities.

That means that Malaysian tourists make up 16.3% of the total travellers to Indonesia in 2023.

Source: Oleksandr Pidvalnyi l Pexels

For illustration purposes

In 2nd place is Australia with 1.43 million tourists, followed by Singapore with 1.41 million.

Check out the top 10 global tourists’ nationalities who visited the Republic in 2023 below:

1. Malaysia – 1.9 million
2. Australia – 1.43 million
3. Singapore – 1.41 million
4. China – 787,900
5. Timor Leste – 728,600
6. India – 606,400
7. USA – 392,300
8. South Korea – 347,200
9. England – 335,200
10. France – 272,700

Source: Katadata Media

Overall, Indonesia recorded 11.67 million tourist arrivals last year, which is a 98.2% increase year-on-year compared to 2022.

Malaysian tourists record the lowest expenditure while in Indonesia compared to other nationalities

Source: Bisnis Pekan Baru

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Interestingly, despite making up the bulk of global tourist arrivals, Malaysian travellers actually rank last for the average expenditure spent while in the Republic.

Statistics Indonesia revealed that Malaysian tourists only spent USD591.03 or approximately RM2773.51 while travelling in the country in 2023, the lowest in the list.

Furthermore, the bottom 5 is dominated by Southeast Asia countries, with Thailand tourists the 2nd lowest with USD683.27, followed by Vietnam with USD760.41, Philippines with USD768.43 and Myanmar with USD803.07.

Source: Detik

On the flip side, European tourists spent the most last year while travelling Indonesia, with Austrian tourists the most baller tourists by spending USD4,274.22 or RM20,057.09 on average!

This is followed by Swiss tourists with USD4,151.25, English tourists with USD3,394.13, Italians with USD3296.65 and Norwegians with USD3,206.55.

On average, Statistics Indonesia revealed that tourists visiting the country spent USD1,625.36 or RM7,627.19 in 2023, meaning that Malaysian tourists spent only more than half the average expenditure in Indonesia in 2023.

Source: Ekonomi Bisnis

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So, what do you guys think of the dichotomy between the 2 statistics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Also read: Indonesia Overtakes Malaysia as 2nd Best ASEAN Nation in Global Tourism Development Ranking