The announcement of Visit Malaysia Year 2025 was made during the presentation of Budget 2023 by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, on 23 February 2023.
This comes at the right time as Malaysia, among many other countries, is beginning to recover from the Covid19 pandemic that shook the world tourism industry.
Visit Malaysia Year 2025
The last Visit Malaysia Year 2020 was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it will be the sixth time a VMY campaign is held in the country; the first one was held in 1990 and recorded 7.4 million arrivals.
The Prime Minister said Malaysia was rich in national treasures and offers beautiful pristine beaches, apart from diverse flora and fauna.
He added that such attractions would clearly give Malaysia an edge and the ability to generate more income through tourism activities.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia recorded an average of 25 million international arrivals annually, with over 26 million recorded in 2019, and also recorded an all-time high of RM86.1bil in tourism receipts.
The Prime Minister said 2025 would be "Visit Malaysia Year", with a target of 23.5 million international tourist arrivals and a projected income of RM76.8 billion.
He added that the Malaysian government will allocate RM250 million to promote tourism. RM115 Million will be made available as matching grant funds to collaborate and work with the Tourism, Arts and Culture industries.
These matching grants will help promote tourism promotion activities and organise major events such as international sporting and cultural events.
The Prime Minister also mentioned that such grants will be used to forge collaborations with Malaysia Airport Holding Bhd (MAHB) and international airlines to encourage charter flights.
No official logo or other information is available as it was only announced. It will take some time for the Tourism Ministry to start preparing everything.
Once I get more information about Visit Malaysia Year 2025 or VMY2025, I will share it in this article with updates. You can also check the official Tourism Malaysia website for more info.
Conclusion
While the announcement of the Visit Malaysia Year 2025 is relatively new in 2023, much will change over the coming months and years.
This means that budgets may increase while specialised targets are highlighted, and many improvements, like the KLIA aerotrain system, will be upgraded.