KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13: The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) has asked local councils for increased assistance to beautify popular tourist locations in the capital in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign.
Motac Secretary-General Datuk Shaharuddin Abu Sohot said the department wants local councils to ensure that Kuala Lumpur remains clean, fun and friendly to visitors.
He mentioned upgrades for pedestrian sidewalks, better lighting, and repainting facade, buildings and public facilities at tourist attractions, including the Little India area in Brickfields and Jalan Alor in Bukit Bintang.
“Some minor problems,” such as chipped tiles or dim street lighting, which appear to be insignificant to the city, when not fixed, frankly give a negative image to the city, at a “walkabout” meeting with the Kuala Lumpur Tourism Association (KLTA) around Little India and Jalan Alor this evening.
He continued on to say these issues can go viral quickly on social media networks and lead to severe marks on the city of Kuala Lumpur’s image among visitors.
The walkabout program was designed to gauge the status of cleanliness, upkeep, and attractiveness to tourists in the capital’s key focal areas, as well as to hear directly from the community and traders about their experiences and issues.
Shaharuddin said some of the matters mentioned by industry representatives and traders related to beautifying tourist routes, repairing broken lights, renewing faded paint and addressing facilities, including rest areas and tourism signage.
He indicated that Motac also provides financial assistance to PBTs for the upgrading of tourism infrastructure, stating that they had allocated RM80 million nationally this year for refurbishing tourism facilities in tourist focal areas.
