Kuala Lumpur ranked No.9 among world's leading cities

"We expect 15 million tourist arrivals for this year, where 10.1 million will be made up of overseas tourists while 4.9 million are local tourists," he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur is ranked number nine out of 100 leading cities in the world in terms of international tourist arrivals by the Euromonitor International in its annual Top City Destinations ranking 2013.

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib said the report recorded 11.2 million international tourists had visited Kuala Lumpur in 2013, reflecting the importance of KL to global tourism, both for business and leisure.

"Under the Kuala Lumpur Tourism Master Plan 2015-2025, one of the key areas that must be worked upon is to market Kuala Lumpur in a targeted manner and provide industry players and tourists with better access to city information," he said when launching 'HELLO KL' E-Newsletter and #IAMKL Online Campaign, here

today.

He said the E-newsletter would be a useful and effective tool in providing information on tourism updates in Kuala Lumpur and it would be a valuable resource for all parties who are responsible for promoting the city as a preferred tourist destination.

"We expect 15 million tourist arrivals for this year, where 10.1 million will be made up of overseas tourists while 4.9 million are local tourists.

"As part of the effort to effectively brand Kuala Lumpur as a dynamic tourist destination, it is important for us to embrace digital media and utilise its full potential such as the 'Hello KL' E-newsletter and #IAMKL campaign, for a start," he said.

Ahmad Phesal welcomed tourism industry players to contribute for content of the E-newsletter, reaching out to international audience and also allowing travel agents to creatively develop tour packages and itineraries that would be more appealing and attractive.

The main objective of #IAMKL is to engage international audience in a fun and vibrant way while raising awareness of the city among travellers and enticing them to visit Kuala Lumpur, he said.

He said #IAMKL utilises social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as the official campaign website www.iamkl.com.

Visitors to Kuala Lumpur are invited to upload 'selfies' with identifiable scenes of the city in the background, followed by the hashtag of #IAMKL. 

- Source: Bernama