BAU: Players in the tourism industry are hoping for more sport-tourism events to be organised in the future to attract more visitors to Sarawak.
Tourism, Art, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, hoped that more people would visit Sarawak to experience its challenging terrains and natural environment.
“I would love to see more sports events organised in Sarawak as it is one way to attract visitors to visit our state.
“Events can be held in Belaga, Bintulu, Miri or Kapit or any interesting places which can attract locals or foreigners to join in.
“It can to some extent promote the state which is part of our tourism promotion in terms of sports,” he said.
Abdul Karim mentioned this at a press conference after the flag-off ceremony of the fifth edition of the Sarawak Adventure Challenge (SAC) in Siniawan Old Town, on Sunday (Nov 7).
“The fifth edition of SAC has attracted more people to participate in the event, not only from Sarawak but also those from other states in the country and international participants,” he said.
He said there are approximately 250 participants in the two categories of the SAC – mountain bike and trail run.
Abdul Karim also pointed out that the number of participants in the event was fixed according to advice from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
“However, if the Covid-19 situation in Sarawak improves, maybe we can open for 400 to 500 participants.
“As Siniawan is known for its old town building and variety of food, the surrounding area has hills, caves and trails that are very interesting and challenging.
“There are rivers, mountains and so on, which is why more participants want to join in,” he added.
Apart from that, Abdul Karim also reminds organisers and participants to be vigilant and obey the standard operating procedures (SOP) as the Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing.
He advised them to follow the guidelines and advice from SDMC and the Ministry of Health (MoH) if sports events are organised.
“I hope both organisers and participants in any sport in the future would comply with the Covid-19 SOPs,” he said.
