News & Updates from KePKAS

15Nov

East Coast travel packages launched in WTM

KOTA KINABALU: The East Coast of Sabah gets a significant push at the World Travel Mart held in London. A properly-packed travel attraction has been put together to ensure that the region is benefiting from the fast-growing tourism industry. It has been said that the world’s centuries-old love affair with Borneo centres around her impenetrable rainforests and exotic creatures and cultures. Sir David Attenborough had said that Borneo is one of the most unique and biodiverse places on this planet. Today, much of Borneo specifically Sabah are still mostly untouched, and the Government intends for it to stay that way. Sabah Tourism Board introduces a sampler of this exoticness through an East Coast-themed packaged tours loaded with Bornean wilderness. Tour designs vary from length of stay to levels of difficulty for experiences in Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau divisions where high concentration of rustic surroundings, natural settings and wildlife can be seen. Visitors can expect to enjoy primate-spotting of up to ten species, from the smallest Western Tarsier to the great ape orang-utan; to bizarre creatures like flying snakes and carnivorous plants all compacted in Sabah. About 60% of Sabah is covered with vegetation and out of that, 30% or 2.2 million hectares will be totally protected areas by 2025. General Manager of Sabah Tourism Board, Suzaini Sabdin Ghani who was representing the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah, when launching the East Coast packages at Excel said, “Sabah is the lead for conservation work in Malaysia and it shows. Our strong policies keep much of our land intact and conservation areas like Maliau Basin, Danum Valley and Imbak Canyon exemplary models. “These areas are open to visitors and are suitable for long-haul guests who appreciate quality nature-based attractions and high-end treatment at the same time.” Suzaini also stated that the board is partnering with various regional airlines in reestablishing long-haul connectivity and direct access to Sabah’s wilderness. The recent partnership with BBC presenter Kate Humble, who experienced Sandakan herself, enabled the board to reemphasize visiting the East Coast to a wider audience, Suzaini said. Next year, the board will further use digital marketing to intensify the exposure and reach needed to draw interests in Sabah’s conservation gems in the East Coast.   Source: New Sabah Times
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13Nov

Sabah on track to achieve 3.85m tourist arrivals target, says deputy CM

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry is on track to achieve its target of 3.85 million tourist arrivals, with RM8.154 billion tourism receipts, by the end of the year. In the first nine months of this year, minister Datuk Christina Liew Liew, who is also deputy chief minister, said the state recorded 2,865,322 tourist arrivals, compared with 2,726,788 during the same period last year. She said Sabah had recorded a 40.2 per cent increase in tourist arrivals from China. She said 464,271 Chinese tourists visited the state from January to September, followed by 244,230 tourists from South Korea, which saw an increase of 8.3 per cent. Liew was replying to a question from Datuk Jahid Jahim (GBS-Tamparuli) at the Sabah assembly sitting on whether the ministry would be able to achieve its tourist arrivals target this year. “Sabah contributed 20 per cent of the tourist arrivals from China and about 52 per cent from South Korea to Malaysia. “Air accessibility growth is one of the main factors leading to the increase in the number of international tourists as the state is now connected to 24 international destinations via 216 direct flights a week, with a capacity of 37,210,” she said.
Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew says growth in air accessibility is one of the main factors for the increase in the number of international tourists visiting the state.
“This year, we have received seven new services from Kunming, Chengdu, Changsha, Xiamen, Beijing, Macao, and Bangkok. “This has made Kota Kinabalu International Airport the busiest airport after Kuala Lumpur International Airport.” She said the ministry had set a target of 1.275 million international tourists and 2.575 domestic visitors for the year. On steps taken by the government to ensure that tourist arrivals continued to grow, Liew said her ministry, through the Sabah Tourism Board, had participated in roadshows, carried out familiarisation trips for media, promotional activities, worked with airline companies and other programmes.   Source: New Straits Times
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09Nov

Miss Scuba International pageant Nov 17

Liew receiving the invitation from Lo. Also seen are Datu Rosmadi (second from right), Suzaini (right) and Yee.

  KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Christina Liew has extended her warm welcome to 22 contestants of the Miss Scuba International pageant. They hail from Malaysia, the United Kingdom, United States, Mexico, Germany, Poland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Belize (a country in Central America), Australia, New Zealand, Iran, South Africa, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea. She noted that nature has endowed the competitors with both beauty and brains. Among the professionals are Salvina de Pacheco Kan, 28, an English teacher from Macau; Sarah Young, 28, an interior designer from New Zealand; Noelle Fuentes Uy-Tuazon, 26, an anthropologist from the Philippines; Natalia Magdalena Janoszek, 28, an author and entrepreneur from Poland; Ko Songmi, 24, a costume designer from South Korea; Leung Yan Kuen, 27, an artist from Hong Kong; and Brittany Daniels, 27, an aquatic invasive species research associate from the United States. On Tuesday, the contestants were transferred from the Tawau Airport to Mabul Water Bungalow on Mabul Island where they will spend nine days engaging in personal training, scuba diving, attending conservation talks and participating in photo shoots and other related activities to boost their confidence level. “Welcome to Sabah. I wish you all the best and do enjoy your stay in the Land Below The Wind. There is so much to see here, and I am sure you will bring back beautiful memories of Mabul Island and other scenic spots. “As you play a vital role as ambassadors, it is my hope that you will help promote Malaysia, in particular Sabah, when you return to your respective countries,” said Liew who is also Member of Parliament for Tawau. The minister has been invited to officiate at the event on Nov 17 at the Magellan Sutera Hotel. Founder cum president of Miss Scuba International Ltd, Robert Lo said the Miss Scuba International pageant aims to raise awareness on the importance of marine conservation. Some of the contestants arrived a week ago to undergo training in scuba diving designed to develop their passion for ocean conservation. On Nov 14, they will leave Tawau for Kota Kinabalu for a two-day grooming session and speech therapy prior to the finals. “The ladies will be enlightened on environmental issues under the tutelage of WWF Malaysia,” he added. Also present were the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Datuk Datu Rosmadi Datu Sulai, Sabah Tourism Board General Manager Suzaini Datuk Sabdin Ghani and tourism player Alexander Yee.   Source: Borneo Post Online
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09Nov

Sabah East Coast packages launched in London

First row (standing) left to right: MATTA President Datuk KL Tan, STB General Manager Suzaini Sabdin Ghani, Tourism, Culture and Arts Malaysia Minister Datuk Mohamadin Ketapi, Tourism Malaysia chairman Datuk Ahmad Shah Hussein Tambakau with Sabah agents (standing behind) witnessing the launch of the East Coast package.

KOTA KINABALU: The world’s centuries-old love affair with Borneo centres around her impenetrable rainforests and exotic creatures and cultures. Sir David Attenborough once said that Borneo is one of the most unique and biodiverse places on this planet. Today, much of Borneo, specifically Sabah, the northern Malaysian state in the island, are still mostly untouched, and the government intends for it to stay that way. This month at the World Travel Mart, Sabah Tourism introduces a sampler of this exoticness through an East Coast-themed packaged tours loaded with Bornean wilderness. Tour designs vary from length of stay to levels of difficulty for experiences in Sabah’s Sandakan, Lahad Datu and Tawau divisions where high concentration of rustic surroundings, natural settings and wildlife can be seen. Promises of primate-spotting of up to ten species, from the smallest Western Tarsier to the great ape orang-utan; to bizarre creatures like flying snakes and carnivorous plants all compacted in Sabah. About 60% of Sabah is covered with vegetation and out of that, 30% or 2.2 million hectares will be totally protected areas by 2025. General Manager of Sabah Tourism Board, Suzaini Sabdin Ghani who was representing the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah, when launching the East Coast packages at Excel said, “Sabah is the lead for conservation work in Malaysia and it shows. Our strong policies keep much of our land intact and conservation areas like Maliau Basin, Danum Valley and Imbak Canyon exemplary models. “These areas are open to visitors and are suitable for long-haul guests who appreciate quality nature-based attractions and high-end treatment at the same time.” Suzaini also stated that the board is partnering with various regional airlines in re-establishing long-haul connectivity and direct access to Sabah’s wilderness. The recent partnership with BBC presenter Kate Humble, who experienced Sandakan herself, enabled the board to reemphasize visiting the East Coast to a wider audience, Suzaini said. Next year, the board will further use digital marketing to intensify the exposure and reach needed to draw interests in Sabah’s conservation gems in the East Coast. Surely, the world’s fascination with Borneo will continue.
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07Nov

Sabah and other states to benefit from tourism

KOTA KINABALU: The move to return half the tourism receipts to major contributing states in the country is seen to hugely benefit Sabah. Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said this was because one of Sabah’s largest economic contribution comes from tourism activities, and Sabah is actively involved in promoting the industry. “For example if the federal government records a RM50mil tourism receipt, then I am confident the related states will get RM25mil, and if the federal government gets RM100mil from tourism, then states will also get more,” he said after the Budget 2019 announcement on Friday. Shafie said this budget will see a boost in tourism activities in many states, not only Sabah. Meanwhile, he said the RM5bil allocation for Sabah could develop various aspects in the state but he wants to see its distribution details to know clearer which are the areas which would be involved. He said though Sabah actually needed more than RM5bil for the various long needed developments, he understood that this was what the government could give at the moment in view of the limited funds and current economic situation. “I hope the allocations for Sabah would cover security, education and health developments,” Shafie said. The Semporna MP hopes that the allocation can be used to also develop infrastructures such as roads, water, electricity and health facilities such as purchase of medications. “This is because apart from doctors and specialists as well as bigger hospitals, we need more medicines,” he said. Among the other aspects that is expected to see improvement and benefit the state include the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), reduction of levy on workforce in estates, the continuation of the Pan Borneo Highway, and stabilization of prices of goods in Sabah and Sarawak.   Source: The Star Online
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