Destination Kuala Lumpur unveils new brand

Kuala Lumpur City Hall has unveiled a new destination brand for the city yesterday, as well as committing to between two million ringgit (US$512 thousand) and three million ringgit in funds on advertising to promote the brand in Malaysia first, before going global.

Titled Kuala Lumpur a City of Contracts and Diversity, the branding seeks to represent the diverse populace, architecture, cuisine, accommodation and shopping options that can be found in the capital of Malaysia.

“The branding exercise will help expand our marketing capabilities with promotional campaigns and eye-catching logos to set Kuala Lumpur as the region’s forefront destination for business and leisure,” said Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz, mayor, Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

He added: “By successfully branding Kuala Lumpur, we will be able to stimulate an increase in tourism, investment, job opportunities, business development and events hosting.”

According to Amin, the campaign hopes to boost three key indicators – visitor arrivals, average spend per night and average length of stay.

In the government's Kuala Lumpur Tourism Masterplan 2015-2025, targets are for Kuala Lumpur to reach 16 million foreign arrivals and to generate 79 billion ringgit in receipts by 2025. This translates to about five to six per cent annual growth.

Branding of the city is also in line with the masterplan which had prescribed that to position Kuala Lumpur competitively, it needed to have a distinctive brand.