S'wak eyes West Asian tourists
Published on: Thursday, March 05, 2015
Sarawak: After tapping into East Asian and European markets, the state government is intensifying its efforts to promotes Sarawak as a tourist destination for West Asian countries.State Housing and Tourism Minister Datuk Abang Johari Abang Openg said apart from promotional campaigns, the Sarawak government had also prepared lodging and facilities to meet the expectations of tourists from countries within the West Asian region."We have embarked on various efforts to lure more tourists from the West Asian region. This includes developing more hotels and eateries with a Middle east concept.
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"We are fortunate that there are several eateries here that are offering Arabian cuisine apart from the construction of a hotel by Tabung Haji, which is near the Kuching International Airport here."With all the preparations and planning, the state government is confident that we can bring in more tourists from the region to visit and help spur the tourism sector in Sarawak," he told reporters here.Earlier, Johari had opened Al-Yemen restaurant in Jalan Merdeka here, which is operated by Yemen-born entrepreneur Shaikh Helmi Shaik Ali Al-Arashi and Hasanah Shaikh Salleh.Elaborating further on plans to attract more West Asian tourists, Johari acknowledged that tourist arrivals were still low and more effort was needed for the state government to achieve its goal.
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"Based on our records, the number of foreign tourists arriving in Sarawak last year was less than 10,000, which is still low.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"We hope Sarawak will emerge as one of the top tourist destinations in the country such as Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur."
