All information of tourism sabah

13Sep

TAR Marine Park top attraction

By PAUL MU KUALA LUMPUR: The islands tour to the Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) Marine Park in Kota Kinabalu is the most popular destination among the Chinese, Taiwanese and Koreans tourists to Sabah. Last year alone, a total of 564,330 visits were recorded, according to Sabah Tourism Board (STB) statistics. The next popular spot was Poring Hot Spring attracting (416,572 visitors), followed by Kinabalu National Park (304,905), Tun Sakaran Marine Park (163,183), Lok Kawi Wildlife Park (142,519), Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary (120,529) and Sipadan Island (43,717). The Sabah eco-tourism continues to beckon the arrivals from China as it has increased by 44.2 per cent to 300,103 visitors during the first six months this year compared to the same period last year. The growth from the South Koreans arrivals also remain strong with up to 17.2 per cent to 162,276 visitors despite a decline of 11.9 per cent to 26,250 people from the Taiwanese, Senator Datuk Yong Wui Chung was told during the Dewan Negara sitting recently. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi also told the House that his ministry is working with STB to organise various tour packages to cater for charter flights from East Asia which is popular in Sabah. “From January to June this year, Sabah has received 151 charter flights carrying 20,532 tourists from China and one charter flight from Japan. “Tourist arrivals from China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan via charter flights have increased by 273 per cent to 20,652 persons this year compared to 5,504 persons for the same period last year,” he disclosed. Other promotions include taking part in overseas tourism exhibitions such as the International Tourism Bourse (ITB)-Berlin; World Travel Mart (WTM)-London; Destination Show-London; Vakantiebeurs-Amsterdam; Matka-Helsinki; and Sabah Roadshow-Australia. At home, it has organised mega familiarisation trips for media and industry players to introduce the attractions in Sabah; advertising campaigns for the domestic and international markets; and overall promotion of inbound tourism. An advertising budget of RM110 million was allocated to promote the Malaysia Tourism for 2018, he added. To further boost the community-based tourism focusing on homestay programmes, he said his ministry has identified eight eco-tourism clusters in Sabah under the National Ecotourism Plan (NEP) 2016-2025. They are Kota Kinabalu-Papar-Beaufort-Klias-Kuala Penyu-Menumbok-Sipitang-Long Pasia; Sandakan-Kinabatangan; Kota Kinabalu-Kota Belud-Kota Marudu-Kudat; Kota Kinabalu-Tambunan-Crocker Range Park-Keningau-Tenom; Kota Kinabalu-Tamparuli-Kundasang-Ranau; Maliau Basin-Imbak Canyon; Danum Valley-Tabin (Lahad Datu); and Tawau-Semporna-Mabul-Sipadan-Kunak.   Source: New Sabah Times
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13Sep

Shoot for the stars in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Things are looking up for the Land Below the Wind as it has been named as one of the must-go places for stargazers or astronomers. For instance, the travel site TripZilla in a posting six months ago listed Sabah as among the nine best places for stargazing in Asia. Another site, #HHWT, which stands for Have Halal Will Travel, put up a posting last year on “Asia’s Top 10 Magical Stargazing Spots Will Leave You Starstruck”, and Sabah was on the list. Sabah Tourism, Art and Culture Ministry director Ag Ahmad Abu Zaki said the skies of Sabah were still clear enough and free from light pollution, which was why it had an advantage.
“Tourism players, especially those in the interior and outskirts, need to grab this chance to promote stargazing to the world,” he said.
Ahmad said the acknowledgement of Sabah as one of the best places for stargazing in Asia had also boosted the state’s potential in astronomy. As part of the ministry’s efforts to introduce astronomy to industry players in Sabah, it recently organised a course on astronomy at Usukan Cove in Kota Belud. The three-day course organised together with other related agencies was to introduce participants to the wonders in the sky. “We teach them to understand and identify stars and other objects in the sky before capturing and editing the images,” Ahmad said. He said the 30 participants comprising photographers and media personnel, among others, were eager to learn about the Milky Way. Participants woke up as early as 3am and stayed up late just to get the best images. Among some of the objects seen were constellations such as Orion, Scorpius, Taurus, Canis Major, Pleiades and light pillars. Tourism Malaysia director for Sabah, Jamilah Abdul Halim, said the agency always supported unique and creative tourism products. “There are actually quite a huge number of astronomy enthusiasts. And they are also people who love taking pictures,” Jamilah said. Source: The Star Online
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12Sep

DCM urges film makers to promote Sabah through movie production

KOTA KINABALU: The surge of interest in Sabah displayed by movie makers augurs well for tourism promotion efforts, said Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew. Speaking to reporters at the Sabah screening of RISE Inikalilah on Sunday, she said : “As a minister in charge of tourism, I support and encourage more Malaysian film makers to come to Sabah for more home-grown production of movies such as the remarkable RISE Inikalilah. “We have talked about ecotourism, adventure tourism, medical tourism, historical tourism, sports tourism, golf tourism, war tourism and what have you, and now we have a relatively new dimension – promoting Sabah through movie making, yet another mode of wooing more tourists to the State.” Saying she has met with producers from Peninsular Malaysia, China and Hong Kong of late, Liew, who is also Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, hoped the media would highlight the work of the film makers. The 100-minute film produced by WebTVAsia was screened for the minister, ministry officials, producer Fred Chong’s teachers who have made him who he is today, his classmates and other invited guests. Also present was Luyang assemblyman Ginger Phoong. Liew urged all Malaysians in Sabah not to miss the chance to watch this movie when it is screened on Malaysia Day (September 16). She said it is a reminder of what Malaysians and Sabahans in particular went through under the previous government, adding it was a very difficult time, especially for PKR in Sabah, but thank God, they succeeded. On a personal note, the minister said the movie brought back memories of her 20-year political struggle dating back to 1999 when PKR spread its wings to Sabah and she contested the now defunct Gaya parliamentary seat on the party’s ticket in 2002. Liew described the struggle as a long and tortuous one for justice and true democracy to prevail, and above all, for good governance for the people. “RISE Inikalilah is a historical movie because it catches the events prior to May 9 this year. It marks the birth of a new nation, a new Malaysia after 61 years of Barisan Nasional (BN) rule. “It shows the euphoria on the night of May 9 following the unprecedented electoral victory when the people spoke out loud and clear for the ultimate change of government,” she said. Watching the unfolding of events in the movie, Liew became emotional “as if I re-lived those days when we were the Opposition and subjected to political persecution.” “I couldn’t help it when I viewed what happened, especially what the previous regime did to us. I was directly involved in the pioneering years and it was a long hard journey for us to finally overthrow the BN government,” she added. Earlier, Chong said the “real heroes” are the people who had fought for so many years for the country and Sabah in particular. “This special film is a tribute to the real heroes here,” he said. As a Sabahan, he is proud to bring back a very patriotic film about our country and show it to Sabahans. “What happened is that we just had the biggest historical event ever in Malaysia which was the 14th General Election (GE14). As a film maker, I wanted to document this momentous moment through a film. “But I do not want to make it too political at the same time, so I created multiple Malaysian characters to show how ordinary Malaysians from different walks of life actually came together and created history for the country. “So that is what this film is about,” he said. According to Chong, after the film was shot, there were comments that this Malaysian film somehow forgot about East Malaysia (as usual). “For this reason, I created a very important character in the film, especially for Sabah. At the same time, I got my friend Katak Chua (president of the Kota Kinabalu Film and Video Association (KKFVA) to shoot additional footage in Kota Kinabalu.” He also brought in Mark, one of the members of the cast, saying the story will not be complete with a foreign character “to see what Malaysia is all about during this historical moment (GE14).”   Source: Borneo Post Online
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12Sep

Singapore, Sabah to further strengthen economic ties

KOTA KINABALU, Sept 8 — Singapore says it wants to continue to strengthen economic, trade and investment ties with Sabah especially in tourism, technical and vocational education as well as property development. Its Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is on the second day of his three-day working visit to Sabah, said the matter was discussed with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal. “I’m very happy to be here in Kota Kinabalu and also to be discussing further cooperation between Singapore and Sabah. We discussed a number of things on how we can work more closely together. “Both (Singapore and Sabah) have an interest in more economic ties, trade and investment and also in tourism particularly. I think (tourism) that’s a wonderful product that Sabah has. Many Singaporeans have already come and visited (Sabah). “We hope that we are able to increase that and perhaps investment in tourism,” he said at a press conference here today. Teo said Sabah has a variety of attractive tourism destinations including in Sandakan, Tawau and Semporna in the east coast. He also invited Mohd Shafie to make an official visit to the island republic to discuss in further detail cooperation between the two sides. Meanwhile, Mohd Shafie said the two leaders also discussed the launch of direct flights from Singapore to Sabah’s east coast, adding the state will send a team to the island republic to explore ways to develop its technical and vocational education. “We can learn a lot from Singapore and how we can advance on this,” he said. — Bernama   Source: Malay Mail
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07Sep

RM8 billion expected from Sabah’s tourism industry this year

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s tourism industry is expected to contribute RM8 billion in tourism receipts this year, said Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew. Liew, who is also the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, said tourist arrivals to the State had been shown a steady growth from 3.4 million in 2013 to 3.7 million in 2017, with an increase in revenue contribution from RM6.35 billion to RM7.8 billion in the same period. “For 2018, we are looking at RM8 billion in tourism receipts.” For the first half of 2018, she said tourist arrivals into Sabah was registered at 1.892 million compared to 1.796 million for the same period last year, which marked an increase of 96,026 or 5.35 per cent. “International arrivals made up 16.57 per cent of this increase, with China market as the largest contributor to the increase foreign arrivals.” To further boost the tourism industry in Sabah, Liew said her ministry would continue its effort to attract more tourists from Asian countries, especially China, Taiwan and South Korea, as well as to increase the share of the European market. Liew stated that in her speech, which was delivered by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datu Rosmadi Datu Sulai, when launching the Seminar on Development of Sustainable Tourism in the Rural Areas of Sabah organized by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah in collaboration with the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) here yesterday. She said the ministry also planned to develop and promote other tourist destinations, especially in the east coast of Sabah including Tawau, Lahad Datu, Semporna and Sandakan to bring about more holistic approach to tourism development in Sabah. She said the east coast towns had not been performing well in the past due to security and safety reasons. Nonetheless, Liew said the situation in the east coast area had improved tremendously with new strategic measures put in place to boost the security of the coastal areas and the close cooperation between Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia in border security surveillance. She said many areas with potential for tourism development in the east coast towns could be turned into tourism destinations to cater to the increasing numbers of tourists arriving in Sabah. On another note, she emphasized on the need for Sabah to keep up with the advancement of technology in this digital and artificial intelligence (AI) era in order to remain competitive in the tourism industry and be on par with other destinations in the region. She said the tremendous growth in tourism sectors globally, including Sabah, was due to the strong market support and the advancement of digital technologies and AI. With the click of the internet, she said holiday seekers could access information about destinations, transportation, tour packages and accommodation. She stressed that the trend of going cashless and paying by payment apps for tourists from more technically advanced countries in the Asian region such as South Korea, China and Taiwan would become a normal feature in the tourism sector in the very near future. “Many tourism related business operators in Sabah are already embracing this mode of payment.” Also present were IDS Sabah chairman Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, IDS Sabah senior associate director Jenny Liaw and STB general manager Suzaini Datuk Sabdin Ghani.   Source: Borneo Post Online
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