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ANNUAL REPORT 2015
FRASERS HOSPITALITY TRUST
KUALA LUMPUR
Tourism Market
Malaysia was ranked the 11th most
visited country in 2014 according to
the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO). The Malaysia
Tourism Transformational Plan aims
to increase international arrivals to
36 million by 2020. There were 27.4
million international tourist arrivals in
2014, a 6.7% increase on 2013. This
was a slower rate of growth than the
6.1% growth rate of 2013, a year in
which 10.4% of all Asia Pacific tourist
arrivals were visitors to Malaysia.
International Tourism Receipts
was USD21.8 billion or 6.8% of all
International Tourism Receipts in Asia
Pacific, representing a 1.5% increase
on 2013.
For the first three months of 2015,
visitor arrivals are down 8.6% year
on year to 6.5 million visitors, due
to a decrease in visitors from China,
Japan, Singapore and Australia.
However some inbound source
markets saw growth with Korean
visitors increasing by 11.2% in the first
quarter of 2015.
Arrivals from ASEAN countries
accounted for 74.3% of total tourist
arrivals. 68.4% or 13.9 million arrivals
were Singaporean, which reflects the
deep cultural and economic links of
these two countries.
Top inbound source markets in
descending order are: Singapore
(13.9 million), Indonesia (2.8 million),
China (1.6 million), Thailand (1.3
million), Brunei (1.2 million), India
(0.8 million), Philippines (0.6 million),
Australia (0.6 million), Japan (0.5
million) and the United Kingdom (0.4
million).
Kuala Lumpur has strong corporate
demand with robust weekday
occupancy. The MICE segment
is also a key business area as
the government offers financial
incentives for organisers to hold
events in the capital. Last year,
the opening of the 93,000 sqm
MATRADE Centre improved MICE
infrastructure.
Kuala Lumpur’s Islamic heritage
draws visitors from across the
Muslim world. Muslim visitors are
draw to Malaysia’s availability of halal
food outlets, public prayer rooms
at hotels and touristic sites, rich
Islamic culture, Islamic festivals
and its reputation as a stable and
moderate Muslim country. The
government promote these aspects
in the ‘Muslim-friendly Malaysia’
campaign.
The high-speed rail (HSR) project
connecting Singapore and Kuala
Lumpur will be a major demand
generator. Expected completion
date is 2020 although a Japanese
railway consortium bidding on the
project has commented that 2020
may be optimistic. The line will have
seven stops in Malaysia, namely
Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Seremban,
Ayer Keroh, Muar, Batu Pahat and
Nusajaya.
There is a need to improve
connectivity between the two
countries, as currently traffic
congestion is acute and far exceeds
the capacity of the Causeway,
an overland bridge connecting
Singapore and Johor Bahru. At
present, passenger traffic on the
Causeway exceeds capacity by 33%.
The project will be a major catalyst
for economic growth for both Kuala
Lumpur and Singapore.
MARKET OVERVIEW
