State tourism committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said the research by USA Today, which was based on testimonies left on Google, was flawed as it only considered English reviews.

Last month, the newspaper published its “Top 100 biggest tourist traps worldwide”, in which Penang Hill was ranked ninth.

USA Today said it reached the conclusion after searching for the phrases “tourist trap,” “overrated” or “expensive” in reviews left on Google in July, after which it divided the number of mentions by the total number of reviews.

“The bad reviews are about two dozen, and it (USA Today) didn’t take into consideration the many other good reviews about Penang Hill – which outnumbers the bad ones,” Wong said in a statement.

Wong said there have been nearly 50 million visitors to Penang Hill ever since the funicular railway began in 1923, with many repeat visitors.

“This shows that they are attracted to the hill station’s charm. The number of visitors speaks for itself,” he said.

The colonial-era hill station has a history going back to 1788.

It was initially cleared for the British colonial community to enjoy the cooler air of the hill.

Previous reports stated that a RM245 million Penang Hill cable car project was expected to be ready by 2025.

Penang Hill is the country’s third national biosphere reserve after Tasik Chini in Pahang and the Crocker Range in Sabah under Unesco’s Man and Biosphere programme.