Private stakeholders’ views vital for recovery of Sabah tourism
News Date: December 13, 2021
Media : New Straits Times
KOTA KINABALU: Feedback from private stakeholders is critical to revitalise Sabah’s struggling tourism industry which was badly hit by Covid-19 pandemic.
State Tourism, Culture, and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said the Sabah government always welcomed proposals from tourism players to bring the industry to greater success.
“We need to understand each other. There are numerous requests, but the government has limitations too. What matters is we come to a consensus.
“If there’s a need for us to make a recommendation to the federal government for the tourism industry in Sabah, let us do it together,” he said at the Engagement Session With Tourism Players For 2022 here.
Joniston, who is also chairman of the Sabah Tourism Board (STB), said the recent decision to lift the mandatory swab tests for fully vaccinated visitors to Sabah was an example of a good understanding between industry players and state government.
AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) made the proposal last month and it was duly brought to the attention of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
“The Chief Minister thought it was a good idea and discussed it further with the state secretary.
“When industry players make recommendations, we present them to the state government with justification and reasoning.
“This is an example of how we can try to better understand and collaborate on each other’s needs.
“We hope that through this engagement session, we can come together to draw up strategies to revive tourism while instilling responsible practices for the industry,” he said.
The objective of the engagement session was based on the four pillars: Building consumer’s confidence; Supporting the industry; Rebuilding connectivity; and Enhancing potential segments.
These four pillars are the guidelines towards Sabah’s tourism recovery, which was unanimously agreed during the Tourism Recovery Committee meeting held by STB with the presence of the state’s key tourism industry players in August this year.
“The formulation of this roadmap is parallel with the concept set out by the government that is the 3R: Recovery, Revitilaise, and Reform.
“It is our desire that, through this engagement, we can identify impactful initiatives and prioritise the initiatives that can add the most value for our tourism industry, especially how to pivot back in the new normal.
“Therefore, I urge industry players to be open in contributing ideas, recommendations, or suggestions so that we can all have a fruitful and beneficial outcome,” said Joniston.
He also encouraged all tourism industry players to continue coming up with new ideas revolving around digital innovations and collaborations.
Present at the engagement session were Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry deputy permanent secretary II Mary Malangking, STB chief executive officer Noredah Othman, its chief financial officer Julinus Jimit and chief marketing officer Tay Shu Lan.
