By Ricky Fernandez
JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia – Ahead of the ‘Visit Malaysia 2026’ campaign, Malaysia hosted The ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2025 in Johor Bahru, from January 15 to 20. Over 1,000 delegates were welcomed to the Persada Johor International Convention Centre to shape the future of tourism in the Southeast Asian region.
The importance of AI, sustainability and collaboration were highlighted at the forum as crucial factors in fostering a robust travel ecosystem. The theme “Unity in Motion: Shaping ASEAN’s Tourism Tomorrow,” was the anchor for discussions.
As ‘Visit Malaysia 2026’ is set to be a major milestone for Malaysia’s tourism sector, local stakeholders are already preparing for a surge in visitors. The ATF was an important platform for announcing ambitious targets that build on recent results. The nation aims to attract 35.6 million tourists, generating RM147.1 billion in tourism receipts.
For reference, Tourism Malaysia’s target for 2024 was 27.3 million foreign visitors and RM102.7 billion in revenue.
To bolster the campaign, the government has allocated a record-breaking RM550 million for promotion of Visit Malaysia 2026. Included is visa-free access for Chinese and Indian tourists until the end of 2026.
Malaysia and other ASEAN nations like Thailand spoke about the issue of overtourism in key hotspots. The solutions included promoting ‘off the beaten track’ destinations experiencing undertourism.
“Undertourism is a problem in Malaysia, especially in sleepy hollows and small towns. There are tourist attractions hiding in plain sight; new tourism destinations and potential UNESCO locations to be discovered,” said Justine Vaz, Executive Director, The Habitat Foundation.
At the forefront of Visit Malaysia 2026 and tourism in the ASEAN region is the recurring theme of future-proofing travel.
Datuk Musa B. Yusof, Deputy Director General of Tourism Malaysia, highlighted the importance of sustainability in the strategies of NTOs (National Tourism Organisations). “Sustainability is no longer an option, it is a necessity to meet the expectations of today’s travellers, who are increasingly conscious of their environmental and cultural footprints,” he said.
AI was another important topic of discussion at ATF. Randy Durband, CEO, Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), explained: “Travel used to be about commodities and people struggled to sell packages and experiences. AI changes that with its curation and aggregation of experiences and travel planning. [Studies show that] early stages of AI in call-centers have not decreased the number of human workers, it has made the lowest-level workers more efficient.”
As Malaysia gears up for Visit Malaysia 2026, a sense of collaboration and forward-thinking are front and centre.
