The haze pollution stemming from uncontrolled forest fires in Indonesia contributed to a 12% year-on-year drop in tourist arrivals to Malaysia in September and a 6.7% decline in October, a top industry official said.
"The smog has had a 'major detrimental effect' on not just inbound but also domestic tourism," said Nigel Wong, honorary secretary general of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta).
There is no data to specifically pinpoint the drop in tourist arrivals to haze concerns, as multiple factors, including a terror attack alert issued by the US government on Sept 24, also contributed to the drop, Wong noted.
Matta's figures are calculated using plane arrivals — while the Tourism Malaysia uses immigration data, Wong said. "The actual numbers are different, but the trend is what counts," said Wong.
A year after the twin air tragedies hurt Malaysia's tourism industry, the ugly head of the lingering haze has emerged three times this year, as peat fires rage on in Indonesia.
Five travel agencies polled by The Malaysian Reserve said inbound and domestic visitors had dropped by varying degrees due to the haze.
Visits from Sri Lanka, India and China have fallen 27%, 3.5%, and 11.7% respectively in the first six months.