Bangkok--28 Apr--Malaysia Tourism Cumulatively, tourist arrivals recorded from January to March 2008 were 5,342,291, representing an increase of 1.2% compared to 5,280,094 for the same period in 2007. The top ten tourist generating markets from January to March 2008 were Singapore (2,620,880), Indonesia (510,847), Thailand (351,049), China (including Hong Kong & Macau) (258, 374), Brunei (215,558), India (116,991), Japan (111,959), Australia (100,811), the United Kingdom (96,569) and the Philippines (83,276).Table 1: Comparison of tourist arrivals to Malaysia (January — March 2007 and 2008) MONTHS TOURIST ARRIVALS 2007 TOURIST ARRIVALS 2008 CHANGE % JANUARY — MARCH 5,280,094 5,342,291 1.2Source: Immigration Department of Malaysia Even a total of 1,819,689 tourists visited Malaysia in March 2008, a drop of 4.5% compared to the same month in 2007. Most major markets also recorded double digit growth in the month of March 2008. They are Russia (50.8%), Canada (47.5%), South Africa (45.9%), Indonesia (43.6%), the Netherlands (42.6%), New Zealand (40.1%) as such .Table 2: Comparison of tourist arrivals to Malaysia (March 2007 and 2008) MONTH TOURIST ARRIVALS 2007 TOURIST ARRIVALS CHANGE % 2008 MARCH 1,906,304 1,819,689 -4.5Source: Immigration Department of Malaysia For more information please contact: Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board: Bangkok Office. Tel: 662-631-1994-6 Fax: 662-631-1998