KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment is targeting a diverse range of tourists, to balance the number of China tourists with those from Asean countries.
Its minister Datuk Christina Liew said the Sabah government would set new strategic directions and provide an enabling environment for industry players to help drive tourism growth.
Liew, who is also Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, said the ministry also intends to expand the tourism route to European countries this year.
“We are going to Berlin, Germany this March to get more European tourists to come to Sabah.
“We also want to open up the market in Australia, New Zealand, United States, Japan and Korea,” she told reporters after launching the B2B session between Malaysia Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Sabah Chapter and Asean Tour Operators here yesterday.
She said Sabah recorded 1.36 million international arrivals and 2.52 million domestic arrivals, an increase of 10.2 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively last year.
“We are on the right track to achieve our target of four million tourist arrivals this year,” she added.
Meanwhile, Matta president Datuk KL Tan said this year, Sabah would be representing Malaysia at the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) Berlin 2019 in Germany, the world’s leading travel trade show, from March 6-10 by showcasing 28 travel and tour companies and hoteliers.
He said participation at ITB Berlin would allow the industry players to showcase Malaysia’s tourism products, especially Sabah tourism, to over 10,000 tourism agencies from over 180 countries. – Bernama
