Kuala Lumpur No.8 Most Visited City In The World.

Several international media outlets recently published the MasterCard Global Cities Index of the 30 most-visited cities in the world in 2017, and Kuala Lumpur ranked 8th.

This is amazing news for Malaysia, which has been working hard to increase tourism over the years. Being in the top 10 is a significant achievement for Malaysia, as Mastercard’s 2017 Global Destination Cities Index ranks the 132 most-visited cities worldwide.

This is also done yearly, and cities or countries work hard to get listed here. Time.com, however, listed Kuala Lumpur as No.9 on the list, with 12.1 million international visitors in 2017.

However, as shown below, CNN and other international publications rank Kuala Lumpur No. 8. Regardless, being in the top 10 is better than nothing.

CNN also issued a list of the 10 Most Popular Cities for International Travel, with Kuala Lumpur ranked eighth.Being in the top 10 is a big thing for Malaysia, as we are known to publicise this as part of our tourism statistics. The list is;

It is a good question to ask how it impacts the tourism industry. Will this help increase or maintain tourism numbers? It is up to the tourist. The tourism board’s mission is ultimately to promote the country or city to would-be travellers heavily.

Each country’s tourism board has its own approach and objectives for promoting tourism. As for Malaysia, we have been aggressively promoting tourism for many years and have experienced both challenging and controversial periods, such as the MH370 incident, which led to a significant decline in visitors from China and other countries.

In recent years, Malaysia’s tourism budgets have been drastically cut, but attracting local, regional, and East Asian tourists remains has top priority.

The number one source of tourists is still China, and many local tourism boards continue to pursue it. You can also find statistics on tourist arrivals to Malaysia from 2005 to 2016, including which countries were visited most.

OverTourism in Malaysia? 

With the number of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia increasing, some popular areas are experiencing overtourism, yet local industry players have not yet discussed it. Eventually, it can become a problem, but little is done to prevent it.

One area in Malaysia affected by overtourism is Mabul Island on the east coast of Sabah, Borneo. Steps need to be implemented, as many other international tourists are now avoiding destinations affected by overtourism for various reasons. But if no one takes this issue seriously, it will eventually become a problem like those in other countries.

Malaysia is still considered not fully developed overall. Well, if you look outside of the major cities, there is so much more to do in terms of infrastructure, proper tourist guides, and other related matters. Most of these places rely heavily on tourism, and in most cases, anything goes.

OverTourism is still an unknown word in Malaysia, simply because of tourism dollars, industry players want to fill planes, buses and hotels. A common practice in Asian businesses is to consider long-term effects.

Conclusion

As I write about OverTourism in Malaysia, I am highlighting a potential issue that may be occurring in certain areas. I hope the local tourism boards and industry players take note of this, as we still aim to be among the most-visited cities in the world. Thanks for reading this article about Kuala Lumpur No.8 Most Visited City In The World.