26Oct

Ctrip awards Hotel Grandis “Best Family Hotel” 2017

KOTA KINABALU: Hotel Grandis has been awarded “Best Family Hotel” for 2017 by Ctrip with a guest score of 4.7 out of 5 and 97 per cent guest recommendation rate. Ctrip, founded in 1999 with its headquarters in Shanghai, is a leading online travel platform in China, with more than 90 million registered members in addition to 5,000 member hotels available domestically and overseas. This year, Ctrip invited 12 Malaysian hotel operators to attend their 2nd Ctrip Global Hotel Partners Summit. Four of these hotel operators were from Sabah, and the others were from Penang, Langkawi, Johor and Kuala Lumpur. The summit also included a tour of Ctrip headquarters to further understand their operations and administrative process of room reservations. During the summit, Ctrip released its “2017 One Belt One Road Travel Report” which among others stated that outbound Chinese travellers increased 71 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year. And, Chinese travellers to Malaysia went up 129 per cent, followed by Thailand (up 91 per cent), and Singapore (up 47 per cent). The general manager of Hotel Grandis in Kota Kinabalu, Michael Tan received the award on behalf of Grandis Hotels and Resorts. “We are thankful to the China travellers who recognised Hotel Grandis as their preferred hotel. We also appreciate our associates for their continuous support in providing distinctive service to our guests,” Tan said. Source : New Sabah Times
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17Oct

Spectacular sunset in Tanjung Aru

KOTA KINABALU: A visit to the state capital would not be complete if you do not walk on the iconic Tanjung Aru beach to catch a glimpse of the spectacular sunset. This appears to be the latest tagline used by tour companies to promote their packages, here, and the numbers don’t lie — judging from people who turn up everyday at the coastal stretch of the city. South Korean student Park So-yeon, 22, said she found out about the sunset walk from reviews posted on the Internet and she was not disappointed. “I came here with a friend from college at around 4pm and we have been here since then,” she said, recently, when met before the sunset, which normally takes place between 6pm and 6.30pm. Foreign tourists make up the majority of those who turn up along the two kilometre stretch of the beach but locals too can be seen with their families, playing games and water sports. Wang, from Shanghai, China, said visiting the beach was a rare treat for her. “It’s not surprising that tourists from China flock to this place for the warm weather and the beautiful scenery,” she said. Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said the popularity of the beach and other coastal areas in Sabah has grown over the years. “Our sunsets are among the best in the world,” he said in explaining the main reason behind its popularity. “We, at the board have been promoting our beautiful sunsets, not just in Tanjung Aru, but all over Sabah through social media,” he said. Source : New Straits Times
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04Oct

30th Mount Kinabalu Climbathon Malaysia’s toughest mountain race to pit 129 challengers

KOTA KINABALU: Dubbed Malaysia’s toughest mountain race, the 30th Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon, will see 129 runners vying for honours in Kundasang on Oct 15. The up and down the 4,095m mountain race will pit top international runners from 18 countries and local favourites for the total purse of RM36,000 in the elite men and women categories. Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Pang Yuk Ming said defending champions, local mountain guide Safrey Sumping and Sandi Menchi Catlona from the Philippines will be in the starting line up for the 26km race. Runners from Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, France and Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, South Africa and United States have also signed up for the race. Pang said a contingency plan has been mapped out, taking note of the bad weather last year which did not permit runners to reach the summit for safety reasons. “Apart from having several water stations and aid stations along the route, there will be two turning points for the runners which are Panarlaban and Aki View Point as a contingency plan in case of unpredictable weather,” he explained. Climbathon returned last year after taking a hiatus in 2015 due to the Ranau earthquake earlier that year, where modifications were made to the route and a smaller number were allowed to run compared to the past races which reached up to 400 participants. Flagging off at Kinabalu Park, runners will make their way to the summit of Mt Kinabalu (4,095 metre) before turning back to the park to cross the finish line, covering a total distance of 26 kilometres. The climbathon first started in 1987 where its origins can be traced to the Sabah Parks intention of creating a rapid rescue squad made up of a team of rangers who can bring down injured climbers fast from the peak or along the summit trail. Source: New Straits Times
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26Sep

Sabah benefits from strong M’sia-China ties

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is benefiting much from the strong bilateral ties between China and Malaysia, said newly assigned Chinese consul-general to Sabah, Liang Caide. He said the relationship of the two countries have opened many opportunities with Sabah seeing a surge in Chinese tourist arrivals. “Our relationship is growing at a rapid pace with exchanges in culture and education aspects being carried out extensively. “The tourism sector is also moving fast with Chinese visitors coming to Malaysia including Sabah,” Liang said after paying a courtesy visit on Head of State Tun Dr Haji Juhar Datuk Mahiruddin at the Istana here yesterday. According to Liang, Malaysia received 2.2 million Chinese travelers last year, and the number is expected to increase to three million this year. “For Sabah, the State had played host to 318,000 Chinese tourists last year and we are expecting the number of tourist arrivals from China to touch 415,000 this year,” he said. Liang who arrived in the state capital on Sept 13, said that the success was made possible due to the good and strong ties between both nations. He also disclosed that Sabah and Zhejiang Province will sign a memorandum of understanding to seal the sister city ties between Kota Kinabalu y and Hangzou in November. The understanding was reached in July. “The sister city tie will again create a new step forward between Malaysia and China as another platform for us to bring our relations to another level of friendship,” he said. The sister city tie-up will also give opportunity to investors to come to Sabah. It has been reported that Malaysia and China can achieve their goal of US$160bil (RM694bil) in bilateral trade in the next two years According to China’s data, bilateral trade between the two countries totalled about US$100bil (RM433bil) last year. Liang is the second Chinese consul general after Chen Peijie who served from Jan 30, 2015 until July 9 this year. Source : New Sabah Times
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18Sep

More than 60,000 attended Malaysia Day celebration

KOTA KINABALU: More than 60,000 people celebrated Malaysia Day at the Likas Sports Complex on Sept 16. From a dignitaries list comprising the who’s who in public office to the man in the street, the celebration was considered by some to be the biggest and most elaborate since the day was declared a public holiday a few years ago. The celebrations kicked off with stage performances by a slew of Malaysian artists, and concluded with spectacular fireworks that lit the city’s night skies. The festive atmosphere started well before the 8pm arrival of the Head of Sabah State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin and his wife Toh Puan Norlidah R.M Jasni. The Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak, his deputy Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Haji Aman, Sarawak State Assembly Speaker Datuk Amar Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar and VIPS of the Federal government and governments of Sabah and Sarawak, were on the specially erected stage earlier to await Tun Juhar’s arrival. Also present were the Minister of Communications and Multimedia Datuk Seri Dr. Salleh Said Keruak who was also the chairman of the event, and his wife of Datuk Raya Erom and Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun. A highlight of the event was the signing of the 2017 Malaysia Special Note Day declaration by Najib, Musa and Mohamad Asfia, followed with the cutting of a cake decorated with Negaraku Sehati Sejiwa logo by Yang Dipertua Negeri Sabah. “I am happy and very proud of being part of this historic celebration,” said Zuraidah Ahmad, one of the performers from the Ministry of Information who participated in the Jalur Gemilang (national flag) march. “I am happy to contribute my idea and also energy together with my friend during the Jalur Gemilang march.” Around 30 people participated in the march led by Haji Suwadi Guliling the Sabah Information Department Director, and his deputy Supian Musa. Meanwhile, Azhar Tahir, 55, said that Malaysia Day ‘is about the freedom that we now have with our independence’. The retiree, who once ran a printing shop, came all the way from Perak just to be part of the Malaysia Day celebration. “For me, Malaysia Day is a symbol of hope and freedom. It is up to us what we want to do and the freedom to make our own decisions,” he said. Azhar lamented that the younger Malaysians do not seem to possess the level of patriotism that his generation possessed. “It is a shame that some of the young people today are embarrassed to even wear a patriotic shirt or admit that they are Malaysian,” he added. For Faizan Haniff, 23, the young generation today should learn to open their hearts so that they will appreciate the spirit of patriotism. “As a Malaysian myself, I am very proud to see lots of people coming together with their families and friends to celebrate Malaysia Day,” said Faizan. Ricky Larry, 28, who recently completed his studies abroad, made a dash to be back in time to celebrate Malaysia Day. “It is great to see that our celebration is still lively with lots of people coming together,” said the Sabahan who has been away in England the past five years. “I think it is right that Sabah is hosting Malaysia Day.” Source : New Sabah Times
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