Sabah wants to boost domestic tourism

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah recorded a 2.8% increase in domestic tourist arrivals in 2018, with 2.518 million visitors compared to 2.449 million the previous year, which state believes can be boosted further. Based on a domestic outbound survey conducted in 2018, Sabah Tourism Board (STB) said there were many opportunities to increase domestic tourism to Sabah.
The survey found that approximately 209,000 visitors came to Sabah every month, and these visitors are connected by 442 weekly flights to Kota Kinabalu, Tawau, Sandakan from nine Malaysian cities. The survey conducted by STB's research division, revealed that the top five preferred holiday activities for domestic travellers were viewing natural scenery (71.1%), relaxing by the beach (54.4%), visiting local markets (54.4%), visiting famous landmarks (52%) and island hopping/snorkelling (41.5%). The survey showed that those intending to visit Kota Kinabalu increased from 29.6% to 85.7%, Sandakan from 7.8% to 33% and Tawau from 6.3% to 23.1%. Suzaini said STB plans to use the MATTA Fair in Kuala Lumpur from March 15 to 17 as a platform to explore opportunities to boost domestic visitors. She said that Sabah is pushing community-based tourism especially to rural areas, as well as homestay and camping which have shown to be areas of interest among domestic travellers who prefer self-driving to travel in groups. Source: The Star Online
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Sabah hosts WAGC Final 2019

KOTA KINABALU, 12 March 2019: Amateur golfers from around the world will head for Sabah, Malaysia this October to play in the 25th World Amateur Golfers Championship. WAGC’s World Final 2019 Borneo Malaysia will take place 19 to 26 October in Kota Kinabalu. It includes the finals with players representing up to 40 countries and an invitational tournament. Play will unfold at four of the state’s top competition golf courses; Sutera Harbour Marina Golf and Country Club; Sabah Golf and Country Club; Nexus Golf Resort Karambunai and Dalit Bay Golf and Country Club. The 500-room Pacific Sutera Hotel in Kota Kinabalu features 500 rooms and one of the golf courses played in the tournament is the official hotel partner. Tourism Malaysia is the main sponsor along with Perodua as the title sponsor. The tournament will be organised by Delta Trend Golf & Leisure Holidays. World Golfers Championship Ltd the owner of WAGC signed long-term agreement with Delta Trend Golf & Travel, last year to contract host countries for World Finals, secure sponsors and together with local companies manage, plan and stage the World Finals. Winners of national tournaments that cover multiple rounds are shortlisted to play for their countries to play in the World Final 2019. Around 40 national teams from across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania will compete in the Finals. Tourism Malaysia chairm, Datuk Ahmad Shah Hussein Tambakau, told a press conference last week the prestigious tournament would underscore Sabah’s position as a top golf destination. “Although the championship will be held in Sabah, it is also a national effort. Such a major tournament was only made possible through sponsorship by our second car manufacturer Perodua and the support of Tourism Malaysia with officials playing a pivotal role in coordination as cooperation from many government agencies are needed to ensure the championship runs smoothly,” he added. Team Malaysia won the WAGC crown in 2012 and 2015, and came in second runners-up in 2016 and last year. The World Finals were held in Johor, Malaysia in 2018. https://www.worldgolfers.com (Source: Tourism Malaysia)
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Direct KK-Sulawesi flight soon

KOTA KINABALU: A direct flight from here to Manado, North Sulawesi, will soon become a reality next month or May, said Consul-General of Indonesia in Kota Kinabalu, Krishna Djelani. He said the proposed direct route, which was mooted by North Sulawesi Governor Olly DondoKambey last year, would boost the tourism industry in Sabah and North Sulawesi. Krishna said this to reporters after opening the North Sulawesi Tourism Office (NSTO) sales mission to Kota Kinabalu at the Consulate, here. He said Indonesia is currently awaiting the green light from the State Government to kick off the air connectivity. Manado is the second largest city on Sulawesi after Makassar. Olly paid a courtesy call on Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and the Deputy Chief Minister cum Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew last November.“During the meeting, Olly raised a plan that would enhance and promote their respective tourism industries by opening a new direct flight route from here to Manado so that foreign tourists, especially from China, could also benefit.“Tourists can spend two to three days here and continue their holidays in Manado that also has eco-tourism attractions such as diving spot,” he said.AirAsia used to have a direct flight between Kuala Lumpur and Manado but has since stopped. North Sulawesi Province Tourism Head, Daniel Mewengkang, held a Table Top B2B (Business to Business) session, which was part of its two-day sales mission, with the local tourism players comprising members of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Sabah Chapter and Sabah Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Satta) at the Indonesia Consulate here, recently. He said the sales mission was a follow-up action after the courtesy call by Olly to Shafie and Liew. Krishna said the proposed direct flight would use Malindo Air or Batik Air for both cities that would take two hours and 15 minutes from here to Manado and vice versa.“Manado and Kota Kinabalu  have similarities in terms of tourism aspects where both have marine tourism destinations, cultural tourism and natural tourism (eco-tourism) that are being promoted.“Foreign tourists, particularly from China and Korea, generally would spend their holidays here due to the marine tourism like enjoying themselves in the islands here and doing diving as well as snorkelling.“We also have all these tourism attractions and activities,” he said. On reviving the direct flight from here to Jakarta which was stopped last December, Krishna said there is a possibility to be looked into as the market is still there as many Malaysians, including in Sabah, often go to Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. Source: Daily Express
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Lahad Datu Blue Hole holds huge tourism potential

LAHAD DATU: Darvel Bay in Lahad Datu, is poised to be a world tourism spot with the discovery of an iconic scuba diving site known as The Blue Hole in Tingkayu Corals in the bay. The finding was recorded on Feb 14 by a group of divers including researchers from Sabah Parks (TTS) who joined the scientific expedition to collect marine data at Darvel Bay. Unlike other blue holes in the world, the blue hole in this bay has two structures with each hole 15 metres deep into the seabed. Relating the matter, TTS senior research officer, Nasrulhakim Maidin said the blue hole is probably the only such feature in Sabah and maybe even in Malaysia. “If this sunken coral structure (like a cave in water) is promoted as a diving site, it could become a major tourist attraction such as The Great Blue Hole of Belize (Central America), Blue Hole Dean (Bahamas), apart from Dragon Blue Hole (China),” he said when met recently. According to him, they stumbled upon the find when a remote sensing map detected a coral area and they found a blue hole instead. “We explored both blue holes and could cover the site with just one tank of gas. The experience was amazing when we came out of the blue hole from the left to the right, we were like moving over a mountain range in the sea,” he said and added the place could be opened to divers apart from becoming a sea-walking spot,” he said. Nasrulhakim said the blue hole could be promoted as one of the tourist diving sites as it is strategically located near Sipadan Island in Semporna. “If we take a boat from Silam Coast Conservation Area (SCCA) to the blue hole, it will take about 30 minutes and from Sipadan, an hour and it will take two hours by tourist boat from Semporna to the blue hole in Darvel Bay,” he said. However, according to him, to bring this gem into the eyes of the world, Darvel Bay which is about 100,000 hectares encompassing the blue hole and 50 islands should be gazetted by the state government as a marine preservation area. The move is necessary to realise the development of Darvel Bay in Lahad Datu as an international tourism destination based on the concept of ecotourism or research tourism. “The gazette is the initial measure to preserve marine lives in the area like the blue hole which we found has lots of corals but minimal presence of fish. “When we dived to a depth of 13 metres, we found 10 fish traps (bubu) but they appeared discarded a long time ago and we observed there were no groupers (fish) sighted in the area,” he said. He said gazetting the place would make Lahad Datu as the preferred tourism destination which could in turn contribute to state revenue. “Last year alone, Sabah earns RM7.8 billion from tourism and this income can be further expanded with the latest product like Darvel Bay,” he said and added they also found four other diving spots in bay. Meanwhile, Universiti Malaysia Sabah Borneo Marine Research Institute lecturer, Assoc Prof Dr Juanita Joseph, said the expedition also recorded the finding of two turtle species, the green turtle and sea hawksbill turtle in the area. “These wild turtles were found in Pulau Baik and Pulau Tabawan and it was also observed that there is sea grass which is what turtles feed on. “Interviews with fishermen and security forces personnel in Tabawan also confirmed the presence of turtles in the island,” he said. According to her, if the government gazette the bay, more turtles will be attracted to the island as a safe haven such Semporna apart from restoring the coral destroyed by fish bombs. In this regard, Juanita said the beach and sea in several areas of Darvel Bay need cleaning up due to rubbish washed up from the sea. Apart from rubbish, she said old fish traps and ghost nets dumped into the sea could contribute to killing marine lives such as turtles. On Feb 11, 21 researchers from Sabah Parks, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Remote Sensing Agency took part in 2019 Darvel Bay Scientific Expedition. The week-long programme was organised by Sabah Foundation and Lahad Datu District Office. — Bernama
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Tawau folks urged to work with Govt on tourism

TAWAU: Deputy Chief Minister-cum-State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew encouraged more Tawau folks to step out and work together with the State Government in developing Tawau’s tourism industry. Christina said the State government is always ready to cooperate with the Tawau community in seeking their opinions and suggestions on the growth of the tourism sector. They are always welcomed to submit their proposals or to participate in a brainstorming session with the Sabah Tourism Board. Apart from that, they could also write into the office of Tawau parliamentary office if they had any issues. She contributed RM20,000 in education aid for the Sabah Chinese High School (SCHS), here, Tuesday in a conjunction with the school’s Chinese New Year festival celebration. The fund was presented by Chief Communication Officer-cum-Apas Community Development Leader Fung Thin Yein to the Chairman of the School Board of Director Chia Yaw and his treasurer Wai Teck Chong.
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