NEWS Kuala Lumpur Takes Home the 10th Spot for the Most Visited Cities in the World

There’s no doubt that Kuala Lumpur is a young, vibrant city. It attracts people from different walks of life as its offerings are endless. From good food to beautiful skyscrapers, Kuala Lumpur has everything that would entice anyone to visit this part of the world. But do you know how many international tourists visited Kuala Lumpur over the last year? The answer is a whopping 12.3 million, placing the city in the 10th place, beating other big cities like Rome, Tokyo, Istanbul, and Shanghai.

Recently, Euromonitor International’s Top 100 City Destinations 2017 list was unveiled at the World Travel Market (WTM) London, and Hong Kong was placed at the top of the list with 26.55 million international tourists. Based on the report, Hong Kong was the most visited city in the world, benefiting from its strategic location and relationship with China, followed by Bangkok, which has surprisingly overtaken London in 2015.

The top 10 most visited cities are:

1. Hong Kong: 26.6 Million Visitors
2. Bangkok: 21.2 Million Visitors
3. London: 19.2 Million Visitors
4. Singapore: 16.6 Million Visitors
5. Macau: 15.4 Million Visitors
6. Dubai: 14.9 Million Visitors
7. Paris: 14.4 Million Visitors
8. New York: 12.7 Million Visitors
9. Shenzhen: 12.6 Million Visitors
10. Kuala Lumpur: 12.3 Million Visitors

As a whole, Asian cities dominate the global destination rankings, all thanks to the unstoppable rise of Chinese outbound tourism. In fact, in 2010, only 34 cities from Asia Pacific were present in Euromonitor International’s ranking. However, this leaped to 41 cities in 2017 and is expected to grow to 47 cities in 2025.

“Asia Pacific is the standout region that has driven change in the travel landscape and is expected to continue doing so in the coming decade with Singapore overtaking London as the third most visited city in the world by 2025 making the podium fully Asian,” said Euromonitor International.

This year, Kuala Lumpur is predicted to attract 12.8 million tourists, recording a 4.5% growth compared to 2016 arrivals. Other Malaysian cities that also made the cut are Johor Bahru and Penang, securing the 42nd and 63rd spots in the list, respectively.