KOTA KINABALU: Sabah expects to hit more than 1.7 million tourist arrivals this year since the reopening of borders post-Covid-19 pandemic.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor Sabah said that they were now seeing an increasing trend of tourist arrivals this year.
He said the state registered a total of 792,899 visitor arrivals from January to April this year - comprising 565,424 domestic and 227,475 international visitors.
"It marks a 94.1% increase compared to 408,530 for the corresponding period last year," he added.
"This bodes well for Sabah as we continue to push for more air connectivity into Sabah to add to the current weekly 100 international flights with a total seat capacity of 18,164 and 366 domestic flights with a total seat capacity of 60,303," he said at a Federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry programme held in the interior Keningau district.
Hajiji said the state government strives to develop the tourism sector through upgrading basic tourism facilities for the convenience and safety of tourists as well as developing and upskilling community-based tourism (CoBT) operators.
He said the state government gives priority to CoBT and wants it to be expanded throughout the state so that more operators in the rural areas will benefit from the economic opportunities.
The Chief Minister said in 2019, two pilot CoBT projects in Kiulu, Tuaran and Kadamaian, Kota Belud had performed exceptionally well with Kiulu generating RM5.45mil in revenue, attracting 54,000 visitors and creating 300 jobs.
The project in Kadamaian had generated RM2.57mil revenue, attracted 217,000 visitors and created 251 jobs, he said.
CoBT has since been adopted in many districts in the state including in the interior and Keningau, which are a tourism haven for adventure, culture, environment, food and history enthusiasts.
The state government, through the state Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry, had allocated RM10mil under its Sabah New Deal initiative to repair basic tourism infrastructure in the rural areas, benefitting not only Keningau but also Nabawan, Tenom and Tambunan.
