KOTA KINABALU – Sabah’s tourism recovery efforts are showing signs of success with the increasing number of domestic and foreign visitors brought by domestic and international flights.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment assistant minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said while domestic connectivity is back in full swing, international connectivity is also expanding to make the state accessible within the Southeast Asia region.
He said the domestic connection has expanded to 389 weekly flights, inching closer to the figure of 445 weekly flights the state recorded before the pandemic.
Domestic and foreign visitors in Sabah from January to April this year have also increased 412% compared with the same period last year, with 408,530 arrivals recorded, out of which 15,562 were international tourists.
“For us, this is already a promising indicator of people’s desire to return to Sabah, to travel and discover new places,” Joniston said during the launch of the Bazaar Matta 2022 at Sunway Velocity Mall in Kuala Lumpur, today.
To date, Sabah has welcomed five direct international flights and is expecting to receive two more direct flights from Incheon, South Korea to Kota Kinabalu next week.
Joniston, who is also the Sabah Tourism Board’s chairman, said the state is also expecting Bangkok-Kota Kinabalu direct flights to resume soon.
The airlines that currently operate international direct flights to Kota Kinabalu are AirAsia (via Manila and Singapore), Scoot (via Singapore), Royal Brunei Airlines (via Brunei) and Jin Air (via Incheon).
For domestic travel, Kota Kinabalu has direct flights from Kota Baru, Kuala Terengganu, Penang, Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur. Both Sandakan and Tawau are also easily accessible from the federal capital.
Meanwhile, Joniston commended the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) for hosting the Bazaar Matta event, particularly for spotlighting Sabah and bringing it to the fore.
He said even though the Bazaar Matta is smaller than the usual Matta fair, the fact that 30-based travel agents are taking part this weekend shows that the event is just as important.
“Sabah packages were in high demand at recent travel exhibitions. On that note, Sabah Tourism Board encourages potential visitors to always use licensed travel agents when booking and arranging a vacation to ensure safety,” he said.
During the two-day bazaar, Sabah will be offering a wide range of domestic travel and tourism packages, with attractive prizes to be won, including flight tickets to Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Sandakan.
Matta president Datuk Tan Kok Liang said the bazaar was the association’s first pilot project that would highlight Sabah as part of its initiative to boost domestic travel.
“We have chosen to highlight Sabah first because tourism is one of their key sectors. There has been an increasing demand for Sabah and its rural destinations,” he said. – The Vibes, June 18, 2022
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