Over half the number of international visitors the country received in the first seven months this year are from Singapore, says Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.

The ministry secretary-general Datuk Saraya Arbi said Malaysia had received some 3.2 million international tourists from January to July this year.

"Singapore is the most significant contributor of foreign visitors entering Malaysia since the reopening of the border in April this year.

"Out of the 3.2 million visitors we received, 1.8 million or 56.3% of the tourists are from Singapore.

"As the main entry point to visitors coming from Singapore, it is important that Johor offer a wide range of tourism products, including handicrafts for the visitors," she said.

She said this during the officiating ceremony of the Johor Craft Festival at Angsana Mall here on Saturday (Dec 17).

Saraya added that among the efforts to boost tourism was by promoting local handicrafts products to both local and international visitors.

"The ministry and Kraftangan Malaysia have been pushing for the sustainability and development of the local handicraft industry to attract more visitors to the country.

"This can be seen when the total amount of handicrafts sold this year stands at RM258.5mil as of November.

"This is higher than the RM200,000 initial target we have set for the year 2022," she said.