By James Lambert

Forget the usual tourist hotspots. Across Malaysia, savvy travellers are turning their backs on crowded city streets and discovering the charm of small towns and hidden villages.

This quiet revolution in travel isn’t just about getting off the beaten track – it’s breathing new life into communities that have long been overlooked.

Thanks to digital platforms, a new era of tourism is unfolding, one that’s changing how we explore our own backyard and who gets to benefit from it.

At the recent ASEAN Tourism Forum, Tourism Malaysia’s director-general Datuk P. Manoharan urged states to showcase their unique heritage and landscapes.

This echoed the broader goals of Visit Malaysia 2026, a national tourism campaign, which aims to elevate the country’s global tourism profile through sustainable tourism growth and the promotion of lesser-known regions.

Wider access

Digital accommodation platforms are a vital part of the solution, enabling wider access to these emerging travel destinations.

New data from Oxford Economics underscores this dispersal effect. In 2024, Airbnb contributed RM9.2 billion to Malaysia’s economy – about 5 per cent of the tourism sector’s GDP footprint.

And while Kuala Lumpur and Selangor remain important hubs, 62 per cent of Airbnb’s GDP impact occurred outside these major urban areas, supporting 63,500 jobs across the rest of the country.

This shows how digital platforms play an active role in distributing the benefits of tourist spending.

Beyond enabling tourism dispersal, digital platforms have a tangible, positive impact on the economy. Airbnb supported over 90,000 jobs in Malaysia in 2024, many connected to family-run eateries, local shops, and small businesses.

Local hosts often serve as community ambassadors, introducing visitors to artisans, traditional markets, and authentic experiences that further benefit the local economy.

They are partly meeting the demands of Malaysian travellers-who now make up more than two-thirds of Airbnb bookings in the country-and are seeking peaceful alternatives to urban life, eager to uncover Malaysia’s hidden treasures.

More inclusive tourism model

These shifts point to a more inclusive tourism model in which economic gains can be shared and realised across diverse communities nationwide.

Yet, the distributed benefits of tourism are not automatic. As Malaysia explores how best to regulate short-term rentals, there’s a clear need for progressive guidelines that support responsible and sustainable practices.

The OECD highlights how digital service models offer tourism operators flexibility to adapt quickly, with low upfront costs-an advantage that can be maximised with proper capacity-building, including improved access to finance and digital tools for small and medium enterprises.

This openness to digitalised tourism fits neatly within Malaysia’s broader strategic ambitions.

Both the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) and the National Tourism Policy prioritise innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability-values that should underpin how short-term rentals evolve.

Aligning regulation with these frameworks will help cultivate a tourism ecosystem that empowers local hosts, embraces technology, and protects the unique cultural and environmental assets that make Malaysia special.

Collaboration

Digital platforms have opened new doors for Malaysia’s tourism sector, leading to new destinations, experiences and communities. But unlocking the full potential means more than just digital innovation; it requires collaboration across a range of stakeholders.

Policymakers, local businesses, and communities must come together to ensure growth in the tourism sector is fair and sustainable.

Afterall, the real value of tourism lies not just in the visitor numbers, but in the lives it can enrich, the cultures it can celebrate, and the environments it can preserve along the way.

-- BERNAMA

James Lambert is the Director Economic Consulting, Oxford Economics Asia.