Kuala Lumpur. 19th February 2010 – The Minister of Federal Territories & Urban Wellbeing, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Bin Raja Zainal Abidin today launched the Showcase KL Transit Tour package at the KL Sentral Station. In conjunction with the official launch ceremony, the first group of transit passengers on Malaysia Airlines from Paris, Perth, Johannesburg, Amsterdam, New Delhi, Madras, Bombay, Hyderabad and Melbourne were treated to sample Showcase KL free of charge.

The group were greeted at the KLIA Satellite building shortly after landing by a VIP delegation headed by Datuk Seri Ahmad Fuad Ismail the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad - Managing Director of Malaysia Airports Berhad, Tuan Rohaizi Bahari - Immigration Director in charge of KLIA, Dato Bernard Francis Senior of general Manger, Malaysia Airlines and CEO of KLIA Ekspress – Puan Normah Mohd Noor.  They were escorted through the entire immigrations and customs process by the VIP entourage, who even took the KLIA Ekspres high-speed train ride together with the tour passengers to the KL Sentral Station. Before continuing on their tour of the city on board the KL Hop-On-Hop-Off (KL HOHO), the transit passengers witnessed the launch of Showcase KL by The Minister of Federal Territories & Urban Wellbeing, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Bin Raja Zainal Abidin and were feted to a taste of local cuisine and multi-cultural performances. 

In his address during the launch, Raja Nong Chik welcomed and encouraged transit passengers to take advantage of this facility when transiting in KLIA. “This would give the passengers a good introduction to what KL has to offer. Although it could be just a short tour, they will get the chance to meet our people, taste our food and see our capital city”, he said. “We have many attractions in the city that these transit passengers will not be aware of if they just wait at the airport for their next flight, which can be for many hours”, he added. The minister congratulated Kuala Lumpur City Hall for spearheading this initiative and encouraged more tourism products such as health screening and other specialized interest tours to be added in the program. 

At a press conference held immediately after the launch event, the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, Datuk Seri Ahmad Fuad Bin Ismail said that the Showcase KL tour package is designed to give the foreign transit passengers a short experience of visiting KL in the hopes that they will want to plan a longer trip in the future. The Mayor explained that based on statistic by MAB, in the year 2008 KLIA received an estimation of 34,000 passengers on more than 6 hours on transit and about 148,000 were passengers with less than 6 hours transit.

With transit times ranging from just a few hours to the better part of a day, these travellers are confined to within the KLIA. The Showcase KL transit tour is a good way to promote the city to these travellers. It allows transit passengers to get a glimpse of the city before the connecting flight to their final destination. The Mayor emphasised on the economic returns the programme will give to the city. “If just 20% of estimated 34,000 transit passengers go for the tour, that would mean a revenue of RM650,000 in just tour ticket sales alone. Once you add their expenditure for dining, refreshments, sightseeing and shopping, then the potential economic benefits from the foreign income exchange for the city and Malaysia overall may be several times more.” The Mayor added that the tour would also directly increase the number of tourist count to the country, while also increasing the awareness for KL through word of mouth and first hand experience.

This programme is the first of its kind - the initiative of Kuala Lumpur City Hall, it is conducted in collaboration with KLIA, Malaysia Airports Berhad, Malaysian Immigrations, KLIA Ekspres, KL Hop-On-Hop-Off, Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines. The tour package is priced at RM95.00 (USD27) and is offered to passengers in transit at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It comprises of a return KLIA Ekspres high-speed train ticket from the airport to KL Sentral together with a day pass for the KL HOHO bus tour.

For passengers on transit who have the minimum required transit time of five hours, and are interested in going on the tour will need to purchase a ticket at the Visit KL counter located at the satellite building of KLIA. The counter is open daily from 5am till 10pm and is staffed by City Hall personnel who are trained in assisting foreign passengers interested in going for the tour. Once a ticket is purchased, the passenger just has to follow the 10 easy steps that are printed in the brochure, to experience the whole tour. To facilitate a smooth tour, there are even two dedicated immigrations counters to clear the passengers’ visas for the transit tour. Passengers on the tour can easily be identified with the issuance of a button badge.

Once they have cleared immigrations and customs, the passengers will be allowed to board the KLIA Ekspres high-speed train that will take them directly to KL Sentral Station. KLIA Ekspres staff will be able to recognise transit tour passengers by the Showcase KL badges that are displayed. Once at the KL Sentral station, passengers may proceed directly to the KL HOHO stop no.11 located on level 2. Should passengers need any further assistance, a Visit KL counter is in operation at the KL CAT Arrival Hall located on level 1, just outside the KLIA Ekspres Arrival Gate.

The KL Hop-On-Hop-Off (KL HOHO) bus will takes tourists to the vicinity of 43 attractions in the city with 22 stops where passengers can alight to get a closer look before boarding the next bus to continue on the tour. Depending on the transit time available, passengers on the Showcase KL tour will be advised by the KL HOHO staff on duty as to whether they should alight and for how long. This is to ensure that they are in time to complete the tour and return to the KLIA for their connecting flight.

Other than getting the opportunity to see the sights, do a little shopping or sample the local cuisine, passengers on the Showcase KL tour package will be entitled to special discounts on entrance fees and shopping provided by the partners of the Showcase KL package. These include Aquaria KLCC, the KL Bird Park, KL Tower and when the transit passengers present their badge at the KL Pavilion they will receive a welcome drink and a Tourist Reward card that offers discounts at over 150 participating stores.

The Showcase KL Transit Tour will be publicised via leaflets placed around the KLIA satellite building, advertisements appearing on the flight information screens at the airport and on the directional signage leading to the Visit KL counter. The tour leaflets will also be distributed at Tourism Malaysia offices overseas and The Minister of Federal Territories & Urban Wellbeing, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Bin Raja Zainal Abidin also encourages  MAS and all foreign airlines to promote Showcase KL to their passengers.

After the formalities of the launch event, the tour passengers were led to the waiting KL HOHO bus to take them for their tour before sending them back to the KLIA for their connecting flight.

For more information on Showcase KL, visit our website www.visitkl.gov.my or email to pelancongan@dbkl.gov.my or showcasekl@gmail.com

ISSUED BY:
Kuala Lumpur City Hall
Tourism Unit, Level 14, DBKL 2,
Bandar Wawasan, Jalan Raja Abdullah,
50300 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2617 6273 or Fax: 03-2698 3819