KUCHING: Tourism is expected to again flourish with the reopening of the country’s borders and Sarawak wants more items on its arsenal of attractions to draw more tourists to the state.
Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, in this instance, has called on Resident’s Offices across the state to propose potential products that could be included in the tourism calendar.
He said this was because the reopening of the borders will see an increase of international flights into the state which, he hopes will have a positive impact on the tourism industry as well as the state’s economy as a whole.
“We want to see Sarawak return to being active with the physical organisation of world-class events and festivals such as Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), Borneo Jazz Festival (BJF), Kuching Marathon and Spartan Race.
“At the same time, we want to see all the important events in each division held physically.
“That is why we hope Resident’s Offices can bring forward to the ministry potential tourism products in their respective divisions.
“This is because if the event receives positive feedback from the community and visitors, it can be elevated as an annual tourism event.”
He said this when officiating the Sarawak Divisional Tourism Task Team (DTTG) 2022 Promotional Video Awards Ceremony held at Imperial Hotel in Kuching on Friday night.
Karim reiterated that all divisional tourism task teams take the initiative to implement events and festivals in quickly with budget assistance from the ministry.
“This will encourage an increase in number of tourist arrivals in the state post COVID-19.
“Since the pandemic hit the nation in 2020, Sarawak recorded only 1.19 million of tourists for that year compared to 4.66 million tourists the previous year.
“With stricter movement control (MCO), the number of tourists had also declined to 235,245 in 2021,” he noted.
At the award ceremony, Sarikei was crowned the winner of the Sarawak DTTG 2022 Promotional Video Awards Ceremony, while Mukah was awarded as the runner-up and third place went to Samarahan.
