Sarawak recorded a total of 4.97 million visitor arrivals last year, a modest growth of 2.89 percent compared to 2024.
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said this highlights a steady recovery and continued positive momentum for the tourism sector.
For the first quarter of 2026, he revealed that Sarawak recorded 1.24 million visitor arrivals which is an increase of 4.5 percent compared to the same period in 2025.
“Brunei and Indonesia together accounted for 48 percent of Sarawak’s total visitor arrivals. This highlights their continued strategic importance to our tourism sector.
“Moreover, Asia remains Sarawak’s key source of visitors to where it contributed 52.6 percent of the total visitors. Out of this, 48.8 percent are from the ASEAN countries,” he said.
He said this in his ministerial winding up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today (May 19).
Abdul Karim said Sarawak generated a total of RM12.67 billion in tourism receipts for 2025, with a growth of 1.75 percent compared to the previous year.
He said from January to March this year, Sarawak generated a remarkable RM3.15 billion in tourism receipt.
“We have set a bold target to receive 5 million visitors this year and generate approximately RM12.73 billion in tourism receipts,” he said.
Despite the ongoing geopolitical tensions and uncertainties in the Middle East, Abdul Karim said Sarawak’s overall tourism performance remained stable.
He said Sarawak continues to undertake strategic initiatives including diversifying its products offerings and target markets, besides working closely with stakeholders and industry players to mitigate the impacts of rising costs and supply chain instability caused by the Middle East crisis.
“We are happy to note that despite the challenges posed by the global crisis, the statistics indicate that Sarawak’s tourism industry continues to flourish and strengthen. The Middle East plays a significant role in the global tourism industry, being the global transit hub that facilitates visitor arrivals from North America and Europe.
“Nonetheless, the Middle East is relatively a new market for Sarawak, a niche premium market that we are still exploring,” he said.
