KUCHING: Sarawak is optimistic about reaching its target of four million tourist arrivals by the end of this month or by mid-October.
Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the number of tourists visiting the state has already neared 3.3 million in the first eight months of this year.
“From January to August, I’ve observed a steady increase in tourist arrivals, and the numbers haven’t declined, so we may not need to wait until December to hit the target.
“We are on track to achieve four million visitors by October, and by December, we could potentially reach five million,” he said.
He said this in a press conference after chairing the 78th Birthday Celebration of the Head of State 2024 Implementation Committee Meeting at Waterfront Hotel here today (Sept 20).
Abdul Karim further said the increase in tourist arrivals this year was largely due to the many events organised across the state, including the 21st Malaysia Games (SUKMA) 2024.
“Next month, there will be more events such as the Sarawak Regatta and International Dragon Boat Race, So I can see it (tourist arrivals) will increase again before the end of the year,” he said.
He added that as of August this year, the tourist arrivals were 3,289,357 compared to 2,594,028 during the same period last year, marking a 26.8 per cent growth.
“In terms of tourism receipts from January to August this year, we recorded RM8,503,999,893.67 compared to RM6,584,929,369.02 during the same period last year,” he said.
For the month of August alone, he said the tourist arrivals totalled 450,785, compared to 324,173 in August last year, which saw a growth of 39.06 per cent.
“As for August’s tourism receipts, we recorded RM1,173,845,453.69, compared to RM818,338,780.79 in the same month last year,” he said.
Abdul Karim also mentioned that in 2019, Sarawak achieved its highest-ever tourist arrivals with 4.6 million.
“But as everyone knows, in March 2020, the COVID-19 emergency was declared and everything plummeted.
“But this year, we are back on track, I believe we will be able to achieve our target before the end of the year because the number of arrivals up until August is something I have personally never seen increase so significantly like this,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to information shared by the Ministry, the top five tourists who arrived in the state in August this year were Brunei, followed by Indonesia, China, Singapore and the Philippines.
