KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Tourists scared off by the political instability in Thailand are expected to flock to Malaysia during Visit Malaysia Year 2014, giving the local economy a boost, according to financial services firm Credit Suisse.

It predicted that the rise in tourism related revenues will help Malaysia achieve stronger GDP growth in 2014 and revised up its GDP growth forecast for Malaysia to 5.3 per cent from 5.0 per cent previously.

“The recent GDP upgrade (to 5.3 per cent for Malaysia) was mainly due to optimism relating to tourism growth. But even our old forecast, at 5 per cent, was already quite a healthy pace of expansion,” a Wall Street Journal blog quoted  Credit Suisse analyst Santitarn Sathirathai  as saying  last week.

Anti-government protesters and security forces continue to clash in Bangkok, with at least four dead last week, fuelling fears that the cycle of violence may continue for months yet. The ongoing protest in Thailand aims to remove Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office and also prevent the influence of her brother and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra from Thai politics.

Most tourists to Thailand are from China and Hong Kong and they are sensitive towards political turmoil, Credit Suisse was quoted as saying.

Sathirathai said that these tourists tend to go to Malaysia and Indonesia instead, as they avoid the unrest in Thailand.

“Patterns suggest that tourists tend to view Malaysia and Indonesia as alternative destinations to Thailand, when there are negative political events in Thailand,” said Sathirathai.

“This may also partly reflect business-related travel, as meetings and conferences are moved to Kuala Lumpur or Bali instead of Bangkok due to the fear of potential disruptions,” he added.

Unlike Malaysia and Indonesia however, Sathirathai said Singapore is viewed as a complement to Thailand, not a substitute, and dwindling tourist numbers in Thailand also means the same for Singapore.

Credit Suisse predicted that the VMY 2014 will further boost the number of tourists to Malaysia coming from Putrajaya’s increased investment, and consequently will hurt tourism in Thailand and Singapore.

It noted that previous VMY in 2007, 1994, and 1990 saw tourist arrivals going up by 19, 11, and 54 per cent respectively.

In addition, Malaysia’s tourism looks more promising compared to its neighbours due to the depreciation of ringgit, said Credit Suisse.

According to Tourism Malaysia, over 25 million tourists flocked to Malaysia in 2012, spending RM60.6 billion during their visit.

Malaysia’s economy beat expectations to record GDP growth of 5.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2013. For the year as a whole, GDP grew 4.7 per cent.