Sabah on track to achieve 3.85m tourist arrivals target, says deputy CM
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry is on track to achieve its target of 3.85 million tourist arrivals, with RM8.154 billion tourism receipts, by the end of the year.
In the first nine months of this year, minister Datuk Christina Liew Liew, who is also deputy chief minister, said the state recorded 2,865,322 tourist arrivals, compared with 2,726,788 during the same period last year.
She said Sabah had recorded a 40.2 per cent increase in tourist arrivals from China.
She said 464,271 Chinese tourists visited the state from January to September, followed by 244,230 tourists from South Korea, which saw an increase of 8.3 per cent.
Liew was replying to a question from Datuk Jahid Jahim (GBS-Tamparuli) at the Sabah assembly sitting on whether the ministry would be able to achieve its tourist arrivals target this year.
“Sabah contributed 20 per cent of the tourist arrivals from China and about 52 per cent from South Korea to Malaysia.
“Air accessibility growth is one of the main factors leading to the increase in the number of international tourists as the state is now connected to 24 international destinations via 216 direct flights a week, with a capacity of 37,210,” she said.
“This year, we have received seven new services from Kunming, Chengdu, Changsha, Xiamen, Beijing, Macao, and Bangkok.
“This has made Kota Kinabalu International Airport the busiest airport after Kuala Lumpur International Airport.”
She said the ministry had set a target of 1.275 million international tourists and 2.575 domestic visitors for the year.
On steps taken by the government to ensure that tourist arrivals continued to grow, Liew said her ministry, through the Sabah Tourism Board, had participated in roadshows, carried out familiarisation trips for media, promotional activities, worked with airline companies and other programmes.
Source: New Straits Times
