Kuala Lumpur has emerged as a favourite amongst tourists as the town welcomed over 12 million foreign visitors last 12 months.
The World Economic Forum placed the metropolis seventh on the list of essentially the most visited cities on the planet in 2016.
Kuala Lumpur even overtook popular Asian destinations similar to Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo, which took eleventh, tenth and ninth place respectively. The only two other Southeast Asian cities on the list are Bangkok, which took the highest spot, and Singapore, which got here in sixth.
Malaysian Association of Travel Agents (MATTA) vice-president Datuk Tan Kok Liang has praised Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) for its commitment to creating the town “more liveable”.
He said the largest aspects that attract tourists are food havens, tourist spots and massive sale periods in the town.
“Definitely in 2017, the tourism industry not only in Kuala Lumpur but in Malaysia as a complete will do significantly better than last 12 months.
“2016 was more of a recovery process and we managed to strengthen our position,” he said, referring to the industry downturn that began in 2014 after the disappearance of flight MH370.
Tan added that the federal government’s visa waiver for countries similar to China has helped attract more tourists.
MATTA vice chairman for ground transportation, S. Jayakumar, said 2017 could be a busy 12 months for the industry because it prepared to handle more tourists.
“This year, growth is expected to be 8 to 10 percent,” he said.
“In 2014, we saw a decline and in 2015, business slowly started to recover,” Jayakumar said.
He added that upgrades at Malaysia Airlines Bhd also helped the tourism industry get better from the crisis.
Source : Times of the Strait
