Published on: Friday, June 05, 2009 |
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is now among the world's best attractions in terms of the super yacht marine tourism sector.
This segment of the tourism industry benefits not only tourism players in Sabah, but other industries and the economy as well, said State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.
He said the Federal and State governments work closely with private sector companies specialising in this field to move towards improving infrastructure and enhancing areas requiring attention to further promote this sector in Sabah.
"Marine tourism is massive worldwide and Sabah, with its unparalleled diversity, holds the key for it being one of the most suited destinations for this lifestyle holiday in Asia," said Sabah Tourism Chairman, Tengku Datuk Dr Zainal Adlin.
"Indeed our super yacht visits over the past few years are growing exponentially to prove this and it now seems commonplace to see at least one or two of them berthed at Sutera at any one time," he said.
Touchdown Holidays Sdn Bhd, luxury yacht handlers and Sabah agents for Asia Pacific Super Yachts, alone had already received visits this year from six super/mega yachts ranging in size of up to a whopping 300 feet valued at hundred of millions of US dollars.
"Yacht owners and their guests often have their yacht positioned to Sabah in advance and then discretely fly in by private jet to board their vessel for their one to two weeks vacation before flying off again," said Touchdown Managing Director Phil Dobson.
"Guests can often be of celebrity status, and hence, word of mouth and awareness for Sabah can be huge."
"They will spread the word that Sabah is a wonderful destination and even to do business. So everyone in Sabah is a winner one way or another," he said.
He added that super yacht visitors by default tend to spend a lot of money when they come here.
Sabah Tourism firmly believes that the segment of the tourism industry could only grow.
