KOTA KINABALU – The Sabah government is in talks with Indonesian carrier Batik Air over prospects of having direct flights to the state to promote health tourism.
Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said they are ready to work with Batik Air, looking to create direct flights from Pontianak, Balik Papan, and Kalimantan to Kota Kinabalu.
He said Sabah has high-quality healthcare services, and he is confident that it was timely to boost health tourism by promoting its latest hospital facilities, especially to the Indonesian market.
“Sabah should be benefitting from this current trend – health tourism, seeing that medical tourists have the potential to spend more than the usual tourists,” he said in a statement.
Jafry said this following a meeting with the Batik Air chief executive, Mushafiz Mustafa Bakri, general manager Muhammad Ariff Abdul Aziz, and other airline officials in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.
He also said that the promotion of health tourism would open new opportunities for foreigners to explore tourism destinations that had “natural healing” concepts.
“Sabah is known for its beauty of flora and fauna; it would give a positive impact, particularly on the healing process,” he said.
With Sabah’s being easily accessible via flight routes, Jafry hopes the plan to create direct flights from Indonesia will become a reality soon. – The Vibes, August 4, 2022.
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