14Dec

Sabah, Sarawak expect to receive more tourists next year

TAWAU: Sabah is expected to receive more tourists following the launch of the Kuching-Tawau direct flights by Airasia starting yesterday. The inaugural Kuching-Tawau flight from Kuching International Airport was officiated by Sabah Deputy Chief Minister cum State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew. “The flights will help boost the number of tourist arrivals further,” she said. Besides, this new route launch came at the right time in line with the state government’s aspiration to promote East Coast Tourism with special emphasis on Tawau and the neighbouring districts (Semporna, Kunak Lahad Datu and Sandakan) as new tourism hubs,” she said in her officiating ceremony speech here. Airasia yesterday celebrated its maiden flight from Kuching to Tawau and becoming the only airline to connect the capital of Sarawak to the third largest city in Sabah. The aircraft departed with Sarawak Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and Airasia Director of Government Relations Zamani Rafique, and was greeted with a water cannon salute upon landing in Tawau Airport at 12.30 pm and received by Christina. Airasia is offering celebratory fares from as low RM49 until 15 Disember 2018 for either way from Kuching or Tawau. Meanwhile, Abdul Karim in his speech said that the new route would also benefit both destinations Tawau-Kuching under the Borneo Brand and further enhance the relationship between the two Malaysian states on Borneo Island. He said the opening of the new route was in line with the promotion for the Visit Sarawak Year 2019. At the same time, he said he would make thorough plans concerning the cooperation between his ministry and the Tourism Ministry in Sabah to promote the Borneo Brand tourism sector. Meanwhile, Zamani who represented Airasia Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Riat Asmat said the new service was part of Airasia’s continuing commitment to enhance air connectivity in east Malaysia. Zamani also announced that Airasia was offering FREE SEATS for flight from Kota Kinabalu-Sibu and Kota Kinabalu-Bintulu where the promotion starts from now until Dec 16, 2018 for travel period between Jan 1, 2019 and Feb 4, 2020. – Bernama Source : The Borneo Post
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29Oct

RM8b from tourism certain

Photo by Sabah Tourism Board
  Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is on track to achieve RM8 billion in revenue from tourism by the end of the year, said Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew. Liew who is also State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister said up to August, Sabah Tourism Board (STB) estimated that the total tourism receipts have reached RM5.55 billion or 7.5 per cent more compared to the same period last year. "As of August this year, total tourist arrivals to Sabah increased 5.4 per cent or 2.56 million compared to the same period last year," she told a press conference on the Xiamen Airlines' inaugural Xiamen-Kota Kinabalu flight, here, Friday. "At least 417,574 or 45.2 per cent of these international arrivals came from China, making it the largest market source for international arrivals to Sabah. "We are still on target to achieve 500,000 China arrivals by the end of the year. "We will work closely with the office of the Chinese Consul-General to strengthen the Malaysia-China relations." She said, the ministry's aims is to re-emphasise tourism in the East Coast, especially in Tawau and Sandakan. "The Ministry is working on upgrading the airports in the East Coast to international status so that all the foreign airlines can establish a direct flight here. "Sabah's attractions vary from the West Coast to the East," she said. On the inaugural Xiamen-Kota Kinabalu flight on Oct. 28, Liew said it is the third direct flight by Xiamen Airlines to the city, after Fuzhou and Beijing. "With this additional connectivity, there will now be a total of 100 weekly direct flights from 12 major and secondary cities in China to Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA). "I was told that Xiamen Airlines' network expands to over 55 Chinese cities with around 160 million population. "The airlines have both Xiamen and Fuzhou as transfer hubs of these 55 Chinese cities." She said, she was also informed that 80 per cent of passengers from the Fuzhou-Kota Kinabalu route are from Beijing and Northern Asia. "Therefore, the airlines' winter schedule may include daily flights from Beijing to Kota Kinabalu. "Xiamen Airlines is currently providing connections to 11 cities in South East Asia. "The airline's long haul connection to Europe, US and Australia, once strategically tapped, could be beneficial for Sabah. "All these potential arrivals, now have many options flying in," she said. Also present were Deputy Consul-General of China in Kota Kinabalu, Zhang He, and Xiamen Airlines (Kuala Lumpur Office) general manager Guo Yuan. - Ricardo Unto   Source : Daily Express
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15Oct

China Southern Airlines Inaugural Flight Press Conference on 28 September 2018

    Honourable Datuk Christina Liew welcomes the delegates from China Southern Airlines at the inaugural flight press conference on the 28 September 2018. YB Datuk Christina Liew bersama wakil delegasi dari China Southern Airlines semasa sidang media penerbangan sulung China Southern Airlines dari Shenzen ke Kota Kinabalu pada 28 September 2018.
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26Apr

KK-Jakarta twice-weekly direct flight relaunched

KOTA KINABALU: The twice-weekly direct flight service between Kota Kinabalu and Jakarta operated by Batik Air was relaunched yesterday. The route which was inaugurated on Dec 20, 2017 is scheduled on Wednesday and Sunday, with departures from Jakarta via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 1am local time and arriving in Kota Kinabalu at 5am local time on a three-hour journey on board flight ID 7169. The returning flight from Kota Kinabalu will take off at 6am local time and arrive in Jakarta at 7.55am local time using flight ID 7168. Kota Kinabalu is one-hour ahead of Jakarta. “The Kota Kinabalu-Jakarta route was launched by Batik Air after AirAsia ceased its operation in Jan 2017, but many people are still unaware of the services provided by Batik Air. They boarded other airlines before transiting to Jakarta which is time consuming and not economical,” said Consul General of Indonesia in Kota Kinabalu, Krishna Djelani during the relaunching ceremony at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here yesterday. “The direct flights will play a key part in boosting the economy of both sides particularly in trade, investment and tourism as it will reduce our travelling time and cost saving,” said Krishna. “It will also connect the people and the business community,” he added. Over time, he believes the airfares could be made affordable when more people are using the direct flights between Kota Kinabalu and Jakarta when the passengers load factor becomes encouraging. “We are also hoping to promote Kota Kinabalu as a tourism hub for the Chinese tourists to visit Manado in North Sulawesi which is a popular spot for its beautiful beaches and scuba diving activities. We can create a duel package for the benefit of both sides,” said Krishna, adding that the proposal is expect to be launched in July this year. He said the aspiration to explore the beauty of Manado was highlighted by Indonesia Ambassador to Malaysia Rusdi Kirana during the 3nd Indonesia Investment Forum on April 18 this year in Kuala Lumpur. He said Rusdi also held a discussion to foster the tourism sector between Sabah and Indonesia with Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun during his working visit to Kota Kinabalu in Sept 2017. Besides that, Krishna disclosed they are also mulling with the plan to introduce the direct flights between Kota Kinabalu and Balikpapan, Kalimantan to provide a nearer alternative for passengers to transit to other destinations in Indonesia especially its eastern part. “Balikpapan which is a two-hour flight from Kota Kinabalu has the second largest international airport in Indonesia after Jakarta which is now congested,” he said. Its consul for economy, Hendro Retno Wulan said they are working closely with the Sabah Tourism Board to promote the Kota Kinabalu-Jakarta sector via the social media to raise public awareness and improve the passengers load. “We encourage the people here to support the flights because when the demand is good the airline could offer affordable airfares,” she said. Malindo Air regional manager (Sabah-Sarawak) Wilfred Wong revealed: “To date, they are enjoying about 70-80 per cent of the passengers load between the Jakarta and Kota Kinabalu route. We hope this route will not only stimulate the movement of passengers but also the economic growth from tourism and other logistics.” “We are also happy to accommodate the needs of customers for business travel, tourism promotion, family vacation, medical treatment and pursuing education through this route,” said Wilfred. He said the Lion Air Group is also opening new routes from Indonesia to Malaysia such as its Wings Air flying from Pontianak to Kuching and Miri, while Malindo Air is servicing Banda Aceh to Penang and Medan to Ipoh. Source: New Sabah Times
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29Mar

CNY marks highest arrivals of China tourists – Pang

KOTA KINABALU: The number of Chinese tourist arrivals in Sabah in the first two months this year increased by 52 per cent to 113,296 compared to the corresponding period last year. Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said that the Chinese New Year week in February also recorded the highest Chinese tourist arrival in a week at 67,000. “This is in line with our target of receiving between 550,000 and 600,000 visitors from China this year,” he told reporters when met at the ‘Passion of Minnan Culture on Maritime Silk Road’ cultural show at the Culture and Arts Department Complex here yesterday. The event was organised by the Xiamen Municipal Tourism Development Commission who were on a cultural tour on a cruise ship along the Maritime Silk Road in South East Asia. According to Pang, he had requested the Xiamen Municipal Tourism Development Commission Deputy Director General, Zhong Hai Lin who was present, to consider re-launching direct air link between Xiamen and Fujian with Kota Kinabalu, to be serviced by Xiamen Airlines. He said that the airline is currently servicing Fuzhou – Kota Kinabalu route and Beijing – Kota Kinabalu route. “Xiamen is a tourism hub of China which received some 78 million tourists, mostly domestic visitors last year. So if we can link these two cities, we can tap to the vast tourism market and promote Sabah to the rest of China. “Now visitors come to Sabah through Fuzhou but Xiamen is a better known city and it is close to Taiwan. “Malaysia Airlines used to fly to Xiamen from Kota Kinabalu but it stopped in 2004. Things are different now,” he added. Pang also hoped that the Xiamen Municipal Tourism Development Commission cruise ship, Neo Costa Romantica, would call on Kota Kinabalu in its scheduled service. He said although visitors arriving on cruise ships are not counted as tourists because they stay on the ship instead of in a hotel, they also contribute greatly in terms of tourism receipt. “With passengers’ capacity of 1,800 and crew of 1,200, the Neo Costa Romantica would benefit the city,” he said. Source: New Sabah Times
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