Tourism Malaysia aims to attract 35.6 million visitors and generate RM147.1 billion in revenue for Visit Malaysia 2026 with the RM400 million allocation of the 2025 budget.

Although this goal exceeds the 10-year high of 27.4 million tourists in 2014, there are good reasons to be optimistic.

In the first half of 2024tourists spent 23.2% more per person compared to the same period pre-pandemic in 2019, contributing an additional RM724.85 per person and RM3.7 billion to the total revenue. This increased spending represents a promising opportunity for MSMEs in the tourism sector.

“Although a budget has been allocated to prepare for Visit Malaysia 2026, MSMEs involved in tourism must already prepare for this end of the year, as 300,000 to 600,000 tourists are expected in December based on the forecast. Tourism in Malaysia data from the last 10 years.

“Moreover, given that Malaysia will host 270 meetings across all states next year, as our Prime Minister will speak, ASEAN ChairmanshipTourism-related MSMEs must be ready to seize this sales opportunity by enabling payment acceptance,” said Clement Loh, CEO of Finexus Group.

For example, small retailers or food and beverage hawkers can adopt DuitNow QR Standee to meet their needs. tourists from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, China, South Korea and Cambodia, to make cross-border payments using their local e-wallets.

As for larger retailers and foodservice operators with larger footfall, they may consider using a Sound Box to audibly capture completed transactions.

A payment terminal is especially necessary for collecting payments from Australian, European and American tourists who generally prefer to use card. As a result, MSMEs can expect more tourists from Australia, the UK and Germany. Tourism Malaysia will prioritize these markets for Visit Malaysia 2026.

In supporting this, tourists also spent the most on retail purchases (34%) in 2023, followed by accommodation (19%) and dining (15%). This spending would have contributed to retail and restaurant revenues, which accounted for almost a quarter (23%) of total service sector revenues in 2017. 4th quarter 2023.

As for MSMEs offering accommodation or leisure activities to tourists, acceptance of online card payments (Visa, Mastercard, Alipay+, UnionPay) is essential to attract tourists booking their service in advance on their websites .

Specifically, MSMEs in Kuala Lumpur, Pahang and Johor need to be better prepared, as these three states have the highest hotel bookings in the first half of 2024. Hosting providers can expect an average 6.4 days occupation for tourists, with most come from China (1.3 million), Indonesia (1.5 million) and Thailand (0.6 million) in 2024.

As for Singaporean tourists When visiting Malaysia, they can also use their PayNow e-wallet to transfer funds via mobile number or Virtual Payment Address (VPA) to their family and friends’ e-wallets in Malaysia. Moreover, the first half of 2024 saw most tourists coming to Malaysia coming from Singapore (4.2 million), followed by Indonesia (1.7 million) and China (1.4 million).

“As an approved acquirer, we look forward to enabling tourism MSMEs of all sizes to accept payments – whether online or offline – using our DuitNow QR Standee, Sound Box and payment terminal like our EDC or our mini POS,” said Clement Loh, Group CEO of Finexus, highlighting the company’s payment acceptance for DuitNow, Mastercard, Alipay, Alipay+, Visa and UnionPay.

“Additionally, as an approved issuer, we are delighted to announce that we will launch cross-border funds transfer for our e-wallet customers, allowing them to transfer funds to their Singaporean families and friends and vice versa,” he said. added Loh.

Indeed, MSMEs can benefit from the multiple advantages financing and loan options provided by Budget 2025 via BNM, BSN, TEKUN Nasional, Bank Rakyat Malaysia, MARA, PUNB, SME Bank and many more.

For tourism-related financing, MSMEs can also apply:

• Tabung Khas Pelancongan (TKP) – RM200 million financing for tourism MSMEs to meet working capital and/or asset acquisition needs

• PENJANA Tourism Financing (PTF) – RM200 million funding for businesses in tourism sectors, still affected by the pandemic

For more information on accepting payments for MSMEs and issuing e-wallets and prepaid cards by MSMEs, visit https://home.finexuscards.com/.

This content is provided by Finexus SDN Bhd.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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