Tourist arrivals in Malaysia double

Tourist arrivals in Malaysia double

KUALA LUMPUR: Tourist arrivals in Malaysia in April more than
doubled from the same month last year, backed by a strong
recovery in visitors from neighboring Singapore, Thailand and
Indonesia, government statistics showed on Tuesday.

Arrivals rose to 1.27 million in April from just 459,372 last
year, when the industry was battered by the double whammy of the
outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Iraq
war.

The total number of tourists in 2003 dipped to 10.5 million
from 13.3 million the previous year, according to figures
published in the Business Times.

Last month, Singaporean visitors topped the list at 809,640,
making-up 63.9 percent of the total, along with 135,805 Thais, up
75.9 percent, and 51,718 Indonesians. -- AFP