All information of tourism sabah

10Nov

Sabah targets RM8 billion from tourism

KOTA KINABALU: The Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry will continue to acknowledge the organiser of Sabah Hospitality Fiesta in their effort to promote the State’s diversity through its annual event which is recognised as an annual tourism event in Sabah’s calendar of activities. Its assistant minister, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming, said the hospitality and tourism industry had always been a significant force in Sabah’s economy. “Despite some setbacks due to several unfortunate incidences earlier this year, let’s look at things from a broader perspective and together put our best foot forward because under the 10th Malaysia Plan 2011-2015, Sabah aims to increase its tourism receipts. “Our target for the 10th Malaysia Plan is RM8 billion, while the nation’s 2020 Vision goal is aiming to achieve RM24 billion by 2020. I personally feel those young men and women who are in the industry have chosen a great platform, with huge potentials to grow bigger,” said Pang during the launching of the 17th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta 2014 at Suria Sabah Shopping Mall here yesterday. The event aims to bring about the best hospitality through sight, sound and taste. Themed “Colourful Scenes of Malaysia”, the fiesta is in line with the Visit Malaysia Year 2014, showcasing the unique selling points of the country’s rich cultural heritage with many ethnic groups living in harmony. Pang also said tourism always bring people together over and over again. In this year’s event, the fiesta has included a special event called Hawker Street Fiesta Charity Do where participating hotels, resorts, colleges and education institutions creatively set up hawker stalls with a common objective to achieve a total sales proceeds of RM10,000 which will be channeled to Sabah Cheshire Home, the beneficiary of the event. Chairman of the 17th Sabah Hospitality Fiesta 2014, Stanley Lajiun, said the total number of registered participants for this year is 245, which is a marked increase as compared to last year’s 176. “On behalf of the organising committee, I wish all the participants the best and look forward to seeing both culinary and hospitality talents in action. “It has been and will continue to be our aspiration to bring out the best hospitality through sight, smell and taste through creativity brought by the various industry players from hotels, resorts, private establishments and of course from higher education institutions,” said Lajiun. Ten participating groups who joined the Hawker Street Fiesta Charity Do were Asian Tourism International College, Grand Borneo Hotel, Horizon Hotel, Le Meridien Hotel, Palace Hotel, Promenade Hotel, Sabah Cheshire Home, Sabah Oriental Hotel, Shangri-La’s Rasa Ria Resort and Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa. Ten hawker stalls are also set to compete for two coveted prizes. The prizes for the Most Creative Hawker Stall and The Highest Worth of Coupons Collected will be presented during the closing dinner of the event tonight (November 2) at Ming Garden Hotel and Residence. Also present yesterday was the chief executive officer of Asian Tourism International College, Datuk Wong Ken Thau.
Source: Borneo Post
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24Oct

Gong Festival 2014

241014 YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun launching the 2014 Gong Festival at Matunggong's Open Hall on 23rd October 2014. This is an annual festival listed in the Sabah Tourism Calendar to attract more visitors to the small district of Matunggong. Seen in the photo, YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun visiting one of the exhibition booths at the festival. YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun telah merasmikan acara Pesta Gong 2014 bertempat di Dewan Terbuka Matunggong pada 23hb Oktober 2014. Acara tersebut merupakan acara tahunan yang telah diletakkan dalam kalendar pelancongan Sabah yang bertujuan untuk menarik lebih ramai pelancong ke Daerah Kecil Matunggong. Kelihatan dalam gambar, YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun melawat gerai-gerai pameran yang ada bersempena dengan acara tersebut. 
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09Oct

Fruitful visit to San Francisco: Masidi

KOTA KINABALU: Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun on Wednesday concluded his trip to San Francisco confident the attempt to woo tourists from the United States would yield results. "We had a first meeting with their tourist agents there. It was more of a explanatory session, which went very, very well," he told the Daily Express, here. The move marks the Sabah's foray into the American tourism market, involving a three-way meeting between Masidi's delegation, travel agents from San Francisco, and an Asiana Air regional manager. In the meeting, he said they also put up suggestions to improve and ease connectivity for travel from San Francisco to Kota Kinabalu via Aseana. Masidi said their work was further made easy after realising there is a Malaysian-born amid the group of travel agents who is well versed on Sabah. "That would be an advantage for us at least in terms of promoting Sabah," said Masidi, adding that Sabah Tourism Board will provide the necessary aid once the group of visitors from San Francisco starts to come in. On Sept 15, Masidi announced the trip to San Francisco to woo visitors from the Pacific Coast of America, in what he said was a change of strategy away from the traditional Chinese market. He made his trip on Sept 25 and returned to Kota Kinabalu on Oct 2, which included a stop at the City of Portland where he witnessed a memorandum signing between Kota Kinabalu and Portland as sister cities. Masidi had warned of the significant drop in Chinese national arrivals following jitters brought on by security concerns in the East Coast and the disappearance of MH370. Sabah experienced a 47 per cent drop in the number of arrivals from China in the first six months of 2014 compared to the same period last year. Source: Daily Express
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03Oct

Wellness and Spa industry highly dynamic: Masidi

KOTA KINABALU: The wellness and spa industry in Malaysia is a highly dynamic and competitive one. Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun said , there are numerous spas in Malaysia, employing about 6,000 workers. "All these are contributing over RM500 million worth of value-added services to the Malaysian economy. "Therefore, the spa industry can generate considerable income for the country. This is especially so through collaboration with the tourism industry. "It is the tourist dollars from using spa facilities that contribute to our local and national economies," he said when opening Jari Jari Spa's second outlet (Suria Sabah outlet), here. The text of his speech was read by Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Pang Yuk Ming. Masidi said the Government realised that the wellness and spa industry is a viable one with an excellent growth potential, adding it will support its growth as highlighted in the Prime Minister's visionary Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). The Minister cited two policies that have had a positive impact on the industry, namely the "Star Rating System" for spas by the Malaysia Tourism Board, and the implementation of the regulation to employ locals and not foreigners as spa therapists. From his observation, the booming industry has been growing at an annual rate of around 30pc. "Which means spa therapy is becoming increasingly popular in Malaysia. Many players have been leveraging on the quality of the Malaysia brand." According to Masidi, spa therapy is highly recommended by many medical specialists. "Looking ahead, the industry's future remains promising, given the increasing interest in physical wellness," he said. Source: Daily Express
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03Oct

Sepilok Orangutan Rehab Centre to mark 50th anniversary

KOTA KINABALU: The world renowned Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Sepilok, Sandakan, which is currently accommodating over 700 orang-utan of the Bornean Pongo pygmaeus morio species, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on Oct 9-10. In conjunction with the celebration, the centre will be opened for free-of-charge to the public on the first day. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman would also join in the celebration on that day (Oct 9) at 8am. He would also officiate at the opening of the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC), located near the centre, and the Orangutan Outdoor Nursery. State Wildlife Director Datuk Dr Laurentius Ambu, in welcoming people to the event, said the two openings are the highlights of the anniversary celebration which would also feature exhibition by the conservation partners, face painting activity and orang utan adoption programme. Apart from that, he said the first day's programme will also be filled with an orang utan and sun bear photography contests as well as other activities at the orang utan feeding platform and outdoor nursery as well as at the BSBCC. On the second day of the celebration there will be a primary school story-telling contest, fashion design using recyclable materials contest, collage and colouring contest, as well as face painting, orang utan adoption programme, documentary screenings and Sun Bear education activities, among others. The Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, about 25 kilometres west of Sandakan, was opened in 1964, about a year after Malaysia was formed, as the first official orang utan rehabilitation project for rescued orphaned baby orang utans from logging sites, plantations, illegal hunting or kept as pets. At this centre the orphaned orang utans are trained to survive again in the wild and are released as soon as they are ready. The sanctuary is located within the protected Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve which covers an area of 4,294hectares (10,610acres). Dr Ambu said since its opening and to date the centre has received 758 orang utans for rehabilitation of which about 81.6 per cent of them successfully rehabilitated. "About 66 per cent out of the 758 have successfully been released back into the protected forest reserve," he said, adding this is one of the successes of the centre which is already known globally for its works in rescuing and rehabilitating orang utans and in increasing global awareness on the importance of protecting orang utans from extinction. He said the success of this centre can also be seen through the decreasing number of orang utans it receives for rehabilitation, with only one orang utan received from January to September this year. Presently there are not least than 10,000 orang utans in Sabah, he said, adding the centre record also showed it is visited by an average of about 80,000 tourists annually. International-based non-governmental organisations would also be joining their local counterparts in the occasion, together with 150 students from the surrounding schools. On the outdoor nursery, Dr Ambu said that is one of the latest approaches by the department where visitors would stay in-house to watch the orang utans outside which is to minimize stress among the orang utans. Source: Daily Express
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