12Mar

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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06Mar

Tawau Airport expansion may start year end

PUTRAJAYA: Prospects are bright for the proposed expansion and development of the Tawau Airport to cater to the influx of tourists from China and other countries.Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Christina Liew, said this after an inaugural official meeting with the Minister of Transport, Anthony Loke, at the Federal Government Administrative Centre, here, Monday.“The Tawau Airport is the second largest airport in Sabah after KKIA. I am glad to have met the Minister of Transport. We have had a fruitful discussion,” she said.During their discussion, she disclosed that in 2018, the Tawau Airport recorded 1.64 million passengers with 19.7pc growth, the fourth highest in terms of passenger growth after KLIA, Kota Kinabalu and Penang airports. “This means that the airport has exceeded its capacity of 1.4 million passengers commencing operations as a domestic airport in 2001.”Liew, who is Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, said the ball is at Sabah’s feet and if everything goes smoothly as planned, commencement of works should take place by the end of the year.Loke concurred with the Sabah Minister that Tawau is the gateway to the eastern part of Sabah, especially to the world-class diving sites at Sipadan and Mabul off Semporna, and to the world-renowned Danum Valley in Lahad Datu. The East Coast of Sabah has a huge potential for tourism development.“Infrastructure development, especially for airports, will never go wrong. If your tourism product is there, it will even be easier. We (Government) are changing the whole landscape of the airport industry in the country. MAHB can have a Sabah cluster,” he said.Meanwhile, the Transport Minister expressed support for Liew’s suggestion for Visa On Arrival (VOS) for tourist arrivals from China and India within a specific period. He, however, is in favour of having Visa Free facility to ensure that foreign tourists from China, India and Korea are hassle-free when entering the country. Liew was accompanied by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, William Baya, Chairman of Sabah Tourism Board (STB), Ken Pan Ying On and General Manager of STB, Suzaini Datuk Sabdin Ghani. Also present were the Minister’s Private Secretary, Helen Muhammari, STB Senior Marketing Manager, Tay Shu Lan, MAHB Director (Stakeholder Relations & Regulatory Affairs), Datuk Abdullah Kadir Bacha and Senior General Manager (Commercial Services), Mohammad Nazli Abdul Aziz.Earlier, Liew met with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) Group Chief Executive Officer, Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin at the Malaysia Airports Corporate Office at KLIA.Tawau tops the list of six airports in the country that have been earmarked for expansion and development.He assured Liew that he is committed to the Tawau Expansion and Development Proposal for implementation as soon as possible.Raja Azmi, who had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Minister in Sabah earlier, reiterated that the proposal encompasses upgrading of the facilities at the airport, provision of a surau, increasing the number of immigration counters and improving the existing toilets, among other measures. Source: Daily Express
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25Feb

Sabah to woo more tourists from Asean countries

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is banking on arrivals from Asean countries to boost its tourism industry. Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said to date, the state only has six per cent of tourist arrivals from Southeast Asian nations, compared to 70 per cent heading to Kuala Lumpur and other parts of peninsula Malaysia. “Sabah has loads of attractions, from food, dive sites, air, wildlife and culture, which it markets to travellers from China, South Korea and within Malaysia. “The state wants a breakthrough from Asean countries which have much bigger population than Sabah. “We should be able to do better for the state with direct flights connectivity and assistance from Sabah Tourism Board and Tourism Malaysia,” he said after launching the inaugural B2B session between Matta Sabah chapter members and Asean tour operators here. Present were Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew and Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general (promotion) Datuk Mohmed Razip Hasan. Tan added that despite similarities in terms of tourism products within Asean countries, Sabah has its own niches that could cater to the needs of different tourists. Earlier in his speech, he said this year, Matta would be representing Malaysia at the International Tourism Bourse Berlin in Germany next month by showcasing 28 travel and tour companies and hoteliers. “Our participation at ITB Berlin will allow us to showcase Malaysia’s products especially Sabah Tourism to more than 10,000 tourism agencies from over 180 countries. “Matta will also be introducing attractive and fresh itineraries for tour packages to encourage more tourists from Germany and Europe to visit Malaysia,” he said, adding that Western countries have traditionally been contributing to tourism industry thus it is worthy to continue tapping the said market. Meanwhile, Liew, who is also deputy chief minister said the state government would set up a new strategic direction and provide an enabling environment for industry players to help drive tourism growth. “We are targeting a diverse range of tourists as we want to balance the number, not only increasing the number of Chinese tourists, but also tourists from Asean and European countries. “Sabah had recorded 1.36 million international arrivals and 2.52 million domestic arrivals. We are on the right track to achieve our target of 4 million tourist arrivals in 2019.” she added. Source: New Straits Times
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25Feb

Sabah looks to Europe to boost tourism

KOTA KINABALU: European tourists will be Sabah’s focus as it consolidates on strong annual tourist arrivals from China. The move is to further diversify its tourism market that was highly dependent on the thriving China tourist market, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew.
Liew, who is state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, said that it was important to balance out the tourism market by encouraging more western tourists to visit the state. “We will kick off our campaign to promote Sabah to other countries, starting with Germany in March. Year open house would be held on Feb 5 in the Hakka Hall here. “We are targeting more Europeans as we want to balance the numbers, not only increasing the number of Chinese tourists, but also American, European and Australian tourists, as well as those from Malaysia," she said. Liew was confident that Sabah was in the right position to draw in European tourists as there was connectivity with Royal Brunei Airlines and China Southern Airlines flying direct to Sabah. Dismissing claims that there was a drop in Chinese tourist arrivals in Sabah, she said that more then 500,000 tourists from China had visited Sabah last year, which surpassed the target. “We have yet to compile the arrivals for December 2018,” she said, adding that Chinese tourists were no longer just staying in Kota Kinabalu but were travelling to other parts of the state including northern Kudat, eastern Sandakan and Tawau. “Maybe people see fewer Chinese tourists in Kota Kinabalu and assume that there is a drop. They are coming and heading to other parts of the state,” she said. Liew also said that the state was expecting a large number of tourists coming for the Chinese New Year season next month. “Some of our top hotels are fully booked already,” she said, adding that Sabah receives some 117 direct flights from nine cities in China weekly.
Source: The Star Online
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25Feb

More tourists heading to Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah last year received the highest tourism receipts in its history – at RM8.342bil – and a record-high 3.879 million arrivals. Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew (pic) said figures showed that from January to December, total arrivals grew by 5.3% while tourism receipts increased by 6.6% compared with the figures in 2017.
The total gross international arrivals recorded a double-digit increase of 10.2% while domestic arrivals increased by 2.8%, said Liew, quoting statistics compiled by the Sabah Tourism Board under her Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry. Liew said China surpassed the half million mark with a total of 593,623 visitors to Sabah last year. As of December last year, Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) received 125 direct flights from China per week, she said. The second highest source of arrivals was still South Korea with an increase of 8.5% or a total of 337,100 visitors while the Singapore market grew by 9.1% last year, she added. “I am very pleased with our performance in 2018. It was a very good year for Sabah. As of today, we are now connected to 26 international destinations by 12 foreign carriers. “We will be emphasising more domestic tourism since we have opened up many new tourism areas in the state’s interior and the east coast,” she said yesterday. Liew also said there were currently 444 flights connecting Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Labuan to Sabah, with a seat capacity of close to 75,000 weekly, which reflected the potential for pushing domestic tourism further. Last year, Liew noted that 19 more new direct international flights commenced services to Sabah, including the reinstatement of the Kota Kinabalu–Bangkok flight by Thai AirAsia. Besides the direct flights, the rest of the services connected Sabah to international cities such as Beijing, Xiamen, Fuzhou (Xiamen Air), Singapore and Wuhan (Malindo Air), Shenzhen (China Southern Airlines, AirAsia), Macau and Kunming (AirAsia) and Muan (Jeju Air). Tawau, too, is expanding its connectivity with a direct flight to Kuching. Last year was also significant for charter flights as Sabah airports (KKIA and Sandakan) welcomed a total of 343 non-scheduled flights compared with 215 the year before, she said, adding that the charter flights brought passengers from China, South Korea and Japan. Source: The Star Online
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