Liew (third left) accompanied by Wahida (third right) and other officials launching the Matta Fair Sabah 2024.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is well on its way to reaching its goal of receiving 2.8 million tourists in 2024 after attaining roughly a fifth of that target in the first two months of this year, said Datuk Christina Liew.
The state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister said Sabah had received approximately 532,227 international and domestic visitors in January and February.
This has subsequently generated tourism receipts amounting to RM1.2bil, she said.
“Sabah has set a target of welcoming 2.8 million visitors for 2024 that I believe we can achieve,” she said at the launching of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair Sabah 2024 here on Saturday (April 27).
“Our ultimate goal is three million arrivals by December this year,” Liew added.
The Minister also said that Sabah will focus more on the immense potential of community-based tourism (COBT).
“In light of this, I urge all stakeholders to collaborate with my ministry for the advancement of our industry.
“We eagerly anticipate partnering with airlines, hotels, tour operators, and all related industry players to develop value-added packages that will further enrich the visitor experience,” Liew said.
On the fair, MATTA Sabah chapter chairman Christina Wahida Kong said they had 90 booths offering various tour and travel packages to visitors.
“We are seeing the largest participation (from tour and travel operators) this year. We believe the sales target will exceed expectations,” she said.
Liew commended the continuous efforts through MATTA Fair Sabah not only to stimulate and grow the travel industry but also to help recover the state economy.
She said she was excited to see the tremendous response from the people who would visit the three-day fair starting Friday (April 26) at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here.
“This is a good sign because it shows the travel and tour sector is growing. It means it is active and moving,” she said.
On another note, Liew said work is in the pipeline to establish an elephant corridor in the state’s east coast Kinabatangan district with help from a Japanese wildlife enthusiast.
She, however, did not specify who this person was but only referred to the person as a “lover of wildlife”.
“Nothing is finalised, but we are connecting with him. He believes in the preservation of wildlife and nature, so we are very happy to work with him.
“He is not an investor but a lover of wildlife. We welcome people, whether locally or internationally, who are interested in participating with us in the preservation of wildlife,” she said.
Liew said she would instruct the Sabah Tourism Board to further engage with the individual on the possibility of the elephant corridor.
“Now wild elephants are everywhere. Sometimes, they go into people’s plantations in search of food.
“But if we have an area where we plant their food, they will frequent that area more as there is food there. And we will also be able to protect them,” she said.
