KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said tourist arrivals in Malaysia continue to grow despite the Middle East conflict.

Tiong said this during a press conference with local media following the launch of the Rain Rave Water Music Festival (RRWMF) at Bukit Bintang last night.

“Up until today, our tourist numbers continue to grow, thank God for helping us.

“Although there is a dip in tourists from the Middle East, there is a slight increase in the number of tourists coming from Asian and European countries,” Tiong said.

He added that the decline in tourist numbers from the Middle East is due to the current US-Israel conflict with Iran, which is contributing to a global energy crisis.

Apart from that, Tiong also said that in light of the current economic situation, the RRWMF programme is one of the ways to further spur local economic growth, while dismissing critics who called the three-day music festival a waste of resources.

“We have conducted thorough calculations and internal discussions; this is far from a waste of resources,” Tiong clarified.

“Without initiatives like this, tourist arrivals would likely dwindle. Furthermore, these programmes provide vital business opportunities for the B40 community. How can we expect to revitalise our economy if we do not create these platforms?”

“We must help them but at the same time, whichever areas we can save, we save, and whichever need a bit of push, we can run programmes — this is to help stabilise the local economy,” he added.

The three-day RRWMF runs from April 30 to May 2 and is held in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign, which aims to attract 43 million visitors to the country.