'Haze, street protests hurt Sabah tourism'
Published on: Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah tourism is badly affected by the series of recent events happening in the country, said State Tourism, Culture and Environment Deputy Minister Datuk Pang Nyuk Ming. Although there has been a growing interest in visiting Sabah, Pang said tourists had expressed concern over the haze and street protest situations. "This is a golden week but the arrival of tourists especially from China is not as good as we anticipated. "The haze definitely affects tourism but what's happening in Kuala Lumpur, with the political tension, has also affected the people's mood to come here," he said after officiating the Mantanani Emergency Rescue Team training programme, yesterday. During his recent visit to Leshan, China, Pang said the people had inquired about the recent Bersih and 'Red Shirt' rallies.
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"Leshan has over 90 million populations and it is one of Sabah's big markets … when the people came up to me and asked if the (street protest) situation is really bad, it gives a negative impact to the country. "They are afraid to come and this affects us," he said, adding the confusion over the visa waiver granted for Chinese tour groups on a trial basis also contributes to the poor tourist arrival. He said some Chinese tourists were stopped by their airport immigration officers due to visa problem despite government granting temporary visa-free for Chinese tour groups effective Oct 1. "The reason was because the Chinese Immigration Department and officers were not informed about the visa waiver and it is not in their system … I really hope the government will re-examine this." The waiving of visa is granted to group tourists from China traveling with tour operators registered with the Tourism and Culture ministry.
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The group must consist of at least 20 people and will be limited to 15 days for each entry into Malaysia. The approved entry points are by air transport via KLIA, KLIA2 and airports in Penang, Senai, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Langkawi. During the training programme, representatives of travel and tour agencies operating on Pulau Mantanani were briefed on the standard operating procedures with regards to the island management to ensure effective tourism administration and operation.
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"Mantanani has become the best alternative for island visit in the West Coast other than Pulau Mengalum and therefore we must issue guideline to operators that want to operate there because it is environmentally sensitive."Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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