KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Government is steadfast in its efforts to restore and develop the tourism sector, as reflected by the RM134.59 million allocation in the 2023 Budget to the State’s Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the allocation includes for upgrading tourism facilities and human capital development for Community Based Tourism (CoBT), besides the setting up of the Sabah Convention Bureau (SCB) which will be operational by next year.
“The SCB will accelerate the growth of the tourism industry through tourism-based business events to make Sabah a preferred destination for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition/ events that will generate economic activities for the benefit of the hospitality, logistics, aviation and other related sectors,” he said.
He said the State’s tourism sector is now on the way to recovery, thanks to a number of recovery initiatives implemented, including, among others, putting the State on the international stage with high impact and visibility, joint promotional destination campaigns with businesses and airlines, and media familiarisation programmes.
He added that six airlines had resumed their international routes to Kota Kinabalu as a result of special airline incentives introduced to encourage airlines to restart such routes.
“Sabah registered 1.2 million domestic and international visitor arrivals from January to September this year, with an estimated tourism receipt of RM2.1 billion, which is a good sign for the industry.
“From Dec 5, 2022 until Jan 1, 2023, Sabah will have additional 24 international flights per week from Taipei, Narita, Busan and Hong Kong, adding 52 per cent to the current international seat capacity,” Hajiji said when opening the World Tourism Conference 2022.
His speech was read out by State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun. Hajiji said Sabah will continue to explore measures to improve tourism, acknowledging its significance as an economic driver, and to ensure Sabah would continue to be a top tourist destination in Malaysia.
“Two years ago, when my government took over the reins of administration, Sabah was badly affected by the pandemic, like the rest of the world, challenging all of us hard on a personal, social and economic level.
“We kept pushing and made a commitment to plan for our State’s future over the following five years. Thus, starting in 2021, the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) Development Plan will be implemented.
This will serve as our roadmap and a crucial blueprint for establishing a strategic course for the State’s economic development,” said Hajiji.
He said agriculture, industry and tourism are the three main focuses of the SMJ Development Plan, which also places strong emphasis on connectivity, particularly green infrastructure and sustainability networks, as well as on human capital and people’s wellbeing.
“Since implementing this development plan, we’ve done well and the results speak for themselves.
“Today, high-impact projects totalling multiple billion ringgit have all gotten underway to accelerate development and give our people jobs.
“The best news is that Sabah has continued to reap the benefits of wise investments as a result of all this excellent news. We recorded RM12 billion in foreign investments and RM942 million in local investments between January and October 2022.
“It’s up to us to maintain this momentum, and I can’t emphasise this enough: We’ll keep making it easier for businesses to invest in Sabah.
“Despite the fact that Sabah’s tourism industry has been the most negatively impacted over the past two years, we have not wavered in our efforts to address the issues.”
— EDITOR
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