Kuala Lumpur Ranked 10th Among Global Top 20 Destination Cities

 

Despite all that complaint about Kuala Lumpur and the mess that goes with it, our beloved city is ranked 10th among the Global Top 20 Destination Cities by International Visitors (2012), according to MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index released Monday. 

The cities, around this region,  which ranked among World's Most Connected Destinations, continued their ascendance as global destinations in 2012, with nearly half of the world's top 20 cities by visitor arrivals and expenditure heralding from the region.

 

The MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities ranks cities in terms of the number of their total international visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities, and gives visitor and passenger growth forecasts for 2012. The index projects sustained growth among emerging market cities with the top 10 Asia Pacific destinations expecting a 9.5 per cent growth in visitor arrivals for 2012 and a 15.3 per cent surge in cross-border spending.

 

Cities in Asia Pacific once again led the charge globally with eight of the top 20 cities by international arrivals, with Bangkok ranked third globally with projected visitors to top 12.2 million visitors this year. Singapore was in fourth place with 11.8 million visitors, Hong Kong sixth with 11.1 million visitors and Kuala Lumpur at 10th spot with an expected 8.1 million visitors.

With that kind of report, our Tourism Minister should not be unduly worried over lesser direct international flights to KLIA.