By Alexandra Lorna and Jasmine Badun
KUCHING: Sarawak will again be Malaysia’s favourite destination at the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents of MATTA Fair from April 9-10, 2022 at World Trade Centre (WTC) in Kuala Lumpur.
MATTA CEO Phua Tai Neng said with the opening of the international borders from April 1 , Malaysians as well as international tourists will very soon get back to holiday travel.
“This 50th edition of MATTA Fair is also proud to announce Sarawak as Malaysia’s Favourite Destination, their third time as was the case in MATTA Fair September 2017 and MATTA Fair September 2018,” he said.
According to Phua as the largest local state government tourism office with 21 booths at the MATTA Fair 2022, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) has been very proactive in attracting more local and international visitors to holiday in Sarawak.
STB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sharzede Datuk Salleh Askor said Sarawak’s participation in the MATTA Fair is a good step forward to boost domestic tourism in Malaysia.
“As domestic tourism continues to drive tourism recovery in 2022, we are very optimistic about increasing domestic visitor arrivals.
“Sarawak’s domestic visitor arrivals in January 2022 showed a 566.82% increase compared to January 2021 and being a MATTA featured destination, we believe and are very confident the number will continue to grow and the Sarawak tourism sector will be on the right recovery path,” she said in a press conference through zoom application on the MATTA Fair today.
She added that Sarawak is very ready to welcome visitors from all over as STB has many new and exciting tourism products to offer that is is based on the five pillars of Sarawak tourism namely Culture, Adventure, Nature, Food and Festival or CANFF.
“This year, together with our tourism industry players, we are going all out to promote Sarawak as a prime ecotourism destination.
“Our main focus will be increasing our direct airline connectivity to and from Sarawak. On top of that, we will go beyond leisure travel where we will be zooming in on medical and educational tourism which is in line with Sarawak’s 15-year Tourism Master Plan,” she pointed out.
Meanwhile, on the MATTA Fair itself, she said STB’s 21 booths will showcase Sarawak’s attractive CANFF offerings ranging from leisure activities to adrenaline pumping tour packages such as visiting traditional longhouses, diving, kayaking and mountain climbing.
“Visitors to the booths can stand a chance to receive souvenir giveaways such as a Penan clutch bag, authentic handwoven rattan pepper baskets or bead garlands by participating in the games. Besides that, there will also be a distribution of Sarawak’s local delicacies such as Bubur Pedas and Kek Lapis Sarawak,” she said.
The public can visit and follow the MATTA Fair official Facebook account @mattafairkualalumpur, Instagram account @mattafair and Twitter account @MATTA_FAIR to receive the latest updates.
