Kuala Lumpur Ranked 10th Among Global Top 20 Destination Cities: Mastercard Index

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, June 19 (Bernama) -- Kuala Lumpur is ranked 10th among the Global Top 20 Destination Cities by International Visitors (2012), according to MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index released on Monday. Asia/Pacific cities, 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. The region also ranked highly on visitor spending with Bangkok ranked third globally with US$19.3 billion expected to be spent by inbound passengers in 2012, a 16.6 per cent jump from last year. In terms of growth in visitor numbers, six out of the top 20 fastest growing cities were from Asia Pacific with Tokyo second behind Rio de Janeiro (28.6 per cent) with a 21.5 per cent growth in visitor arrivals. Speaking at a media briefing here, Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, global economic advisor, MasterCard Worldwide, noted that Asia’s destination cities continued their rise, expecting a significant upward trend in visitor arrivals and cross-border spend -- most of them on the back of large double-digit growth. While cities in Europe and the United States still ranked highly in the index, Dr Hedrick-Wong said that the number of emerging market cities featured in the ranking showed Asia’s growing role in the global economy. The leading Asian cities are some of the most sought after destinations for visitors from all over the world, and the index indicated that they will continue to thrive into 2012, he said. -- BERNAMA