10 Sabah tour packages launched

TAWAU: Tourism Malaysia’s domestic promotion division yesterday launched the “Sabah, Sandakan & Tawau Tour Packages” as an initiative to promote the destinations to domestic travellers after the Lahad Datu incident.

Under the initiative, 10 destination packages in Sandakan and Tawau were created.

They were jointly launched by the division’s director, Musa Yusof, and Tawau Municipal Council president Datuk Ismail Mayakob.

“Some of the packages created include the 4 days-3 nights ‘Return of the Planet of the Apes’ in Sandakan and the 4 days-3 nights ‘Finding Nemo & Dory’ in Mabul Island.

“The packages were named after popular movies as people tend to remember famous movies more,” Musa said at the launch.

He said Sandakan and Tawau were blessed with natural wealth, namely Sukau-Kinabatangan, Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Selingan Island in Sandakan, Tawau Hills Park, Teck Guan Cocoa Museum and Village, Mabul, Kapalai, Mataking and Sipadan Islands in Semporna, adding that these attractions were the backbone of Sabah’s tourism industry.

Musa said Tourism Malaysia was confident in achieving the Sabah Tourism Board’s target of two million domestic arrivals this year, although there was a slight decrease in arrivals in the January-February period this year compared with the same period last year.

He said the Tourism Ministry, Tourism Malaysia and other relevant agencies had taken proactive action in addressing this issue, such as setting up dialogues and the Sabah Tourism Task Force on March 18 to counter the negative impact of the Lahad Datu incident.

Musa added that domestic tourists had spent about RM42.3 billion in 2011, which was an increase of 21.9 per cent, compared with RM34.7 billion in the same period in 2010. Bernama

Source: New Straits Times