By Olivia Miwil - November 20, 2021 @ 2:54pm
KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah will exclude fully-vaccinated visitors from undergoing several procedures when they enter the state next month, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said such a measure was to get Sabah ready to welcome international arrivals when the country reopens its borders next year.
Based on existing standard operating procedures (SOP), unvaccinated visitors are still allowed to enter the state, but only if they have valid reasons and they will be subjected to a swab test.
As of Nov 16, passengers who are unvaccinated due to health reasons are required to submit a medical report that has been certified by a registered medical practitioner. For unvaccinated passengers due to medical reasons, they must undergo mandatory quarantine for 10 days.
Hajiji said since the beginning of November, there were already 266 weekly direct flights into Sabah from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, Penang, Kota Baru, Labuan , and Sarawak, with a total capacity of 43,000 seats.
"Within Sabah, there are 123 weekly flights with a total capacity of 16,720 seats connecting Kota Kinabalu, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, and Tawau," he said during the official opening of the 49th Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair at PWTC here.
Selected as "Malaysia's Favourite Destination" for the third time after 2015 and 2019, Sabah has taken up 12 booths to showcase its tourism products.
As far as accommodation facilities are concerned, he said it was adequate to meet the expected demand coupled with an additional 3,506 rooms expected to be available with the completion of 11 new hotel developments in 2022.
At the same time, the Chief Minister said the Sabah government had implemented the Sabah Tourism Recovery Plan for domestic and international segments to improve tourism promotion, including market shifting during the pandemic.
The Sabah Tourism Board (STB), he said, had collaborated with tourism industry players to hold virtual engagements, travel expos, promotion, and training on destination updates.
"This includes re-establishing trade and tourist confidence through B2B and G2G, with many countries including China, Korea, Norway, Indonesia, Brunei, India, Dubai, Italy, Kazakhstan, and Turkey.
"The STB is also working with airlines and assisting them in re-establishing direct flights for domestic and international travel," he said.
Hajiji added that the return of the MATTA Fair was significant as it signified the beginning of the recovery phase for the tourism industry after onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic for nearly two years.
He said it was heartening to note that many businesses were in the recovery phase after struggling to remain afloat during the pandemic.
He said the Sabah government recognised the importance of tourism as an economic catalyst and under his administration, it had identified the industry as one of the three economic development pillars in Sabah's five-year development plan, the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) (2021--2025).
"Through the SMJ framework, the Sabah government welcomes investors in the tourism sectors to engage with local communities for win-win business opportunities.
"The State Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment and the STB will pursue strong partnerships with other industry stakeholders as well as other tourism organisations to create new and innovative tourism products.
"This will enhance our competitiveness as we want to ensure that Sabah remains one of Malaysia's favourite tourism destinations," he said.
Sabah's tourism industry has always outperformed industry expectations in the past years and prior to the pandemic in 2019, it was experiencing an upward trend, recording 4.1 million arrivals and registering RM8.342 billion in total receipts with RM12 million in tourism tax revenue collected, said Hajiji.
For further growth is the Rural and Community-based Tourism initiated by the STB in 2014, he added.
"Two of these community-based tourism clusters – Kadamaian in Kota Belud, and Kiulu in Tuaran – chalked a total income of RM7.57 million and attracted 270,000 Visitors in 2019 alone.
"We look forward to widening community-based tourism in many parts of Sabah," he said.
Hajiji also urged MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) players to look into Sabah as a conference, exhibition, or seminar destination.
"The opening of the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC), which is the largest purpose-built facility in Borneo, presents opportunities to bring in global events into the state.
"We will also look into establishing a Sabah Convention Bureau to enhance promotion efforts to make sure Sabah remains a preferred destination for MICE events," he said.
Hajiji said Sabah appreciated MATTA's support to the state's tourism industry recovery efforts and hoped to see the MATTA Fair returning to Sabah next year.
MATTA Fair is a much-awaited event and known to be the largest one-stop centre for holiday seekers to explore a variety of domestic and overseas holiday destinations with packages at competitive pricing.
"With many tour platforms from South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Japan, Turkey and Uganda in this year's MATTA Fair, I am sure visitors will be spoilt for choice," he said.
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