Tourism industry flourishes
Published on: Tuesday, December 31, 2019
By: Ricardo Unto
RBA and Sandakan representatives posing for a picture during the inaugural trip to Sandakan. (Image: RB)
Kota Kinabalu: The tourism industry flourished well this year with a significant increase of tourist arrivals compared to last year.This augurs well with the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry’s target of four million tourist arrivals this year.
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On Nov 22, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew who is also Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, said she was optimistic of achieving that target.
The State, she said, received 3.11 million tourists in the first nine months of this year.
This shows an increase of 8.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2018 (2.87 million visitors with a tourism revenue of RM6.21 billion).
Her confidence, she said, was supported by the current trend of tourist arrivals which has reached 77.8 per cent of the four million target, as of September, and estimated to have contributed RM6.74 billion in revenue.
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Liew noted the achievements via air transportation, citing Jeju Airlines from Korea which has added 15 flights from Muan to the City from Jul 13-Aug 31.
She also noted that Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA), through its subsidiary RB Link, has begun direct flights from Bandar Seri Begawan to Sandakan on Oct 28, six times a week. The direct flights to Tawau started on Nov 11.
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Liew said RBA links the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and Japan directly to Brunei Darussalam.
Therefore, she said the opening of these two new routes is crucial for the tourism industry in Sabah, particularly the East Coast.
She also said, on Feb 24, that the State Government would set new strategic directions and provide an enabling environment for industry players to help drive tourism growth in the State.
This year, she said, the government was targeting a diverse range of tourists in order to balance the increasing number of Chinese tourists to the State.
As such, she said the government was also looking at increasing tourists from Asean countries.
Liew said, in addition to tourists coming from China, the Ministry also decided to expand the State’s route to Europe.
With the increase number of visitors to the State, the State Government had also been mulling on building a new airport.
On Jul 27, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said Sabah is in need of another airport as the capacity of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) may surpass its limit in three to five years.
This, he said, was one of the top priorities for the State Government and was discussed during the 12th Malaysia Plan engagement session with the Federal Economic Affairs Ministry.
He said the construction of the new airport is one of the measures to improve the management of foreign and domestic tourists coming to the State.
In domestic tourism alone, the State received about 800,000 tourists and the capacity of the existing airport is limited.
KKIA’s capacity, he said, is about nine million tourists per year and currently, the airport is managing about eight million.
Previously, Shafie was quoted as saying that the State Government had identified a place in Kimanis for the construction of another airport.
Noting that connectivity is important in developing Sabah and Sarawak’s tourism industries, Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Abang Openg had proposed for the establishment of a joint airline.
On Oct 15, Abang Johari disclosed that a study can be conducted to materialise this proposal to further boost the tourism sector and improve the connectivity between the hubs that can be established in the region.
He said, a positive development in the aviation industry will benefit both states.
Abang Johari also said tourism development is one of the four main polices towards making Sarawak a developed state, and it can learn a lot from Sabah on developing its tourism and services sector.
Welcoming the proposal, Shafie said it was timely for such idea to be looked into.
On Oct 19, AirAsia had renewed its push to reopen KKIA Terminal 2 (KKIA2) as a low-cost terminal.
AirAsia Group Bhd Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said Sabah has great potential to become a regional hub and it can grow to 15 million passengers from the present eight million if KKIA1 is reopened.
With Indonesia relocating its capital to Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, he said, it is a great opportunity for Sabah to become an even bigger hub.
Fernandes also disclosed that the Federal Transport Ministry is open to the suggestion of re-opening KKIA2.
He said one of the reasons why it had not really moved was because there were talks about building a new airport.
However, he said, building a new airport, wherever it will be, is going to take five to seven years.
To this end, he said, something in the interim is needed and that is why Terminal 2 has to come back up and running.
He stressed that if Terminal 2 is re-opened, they can start operations in six months after the approval is obtained.
Meanwhile, Shafie also said there is a need for the Federal Government’s tourism tax revenue distribution formula to be revised to reflect greater accuracy.
On Aug 23, he said, the formula, currently, was based on revenues collected from accommodation taxes charged on tourists.
He said, the revenues from the sector are wider – food and beverage, immigration, hotels, property, and many more.
Shafie is confident the revenues could reach billions of ringgit as tourism is one of the biggest earning sectors in the country.
As such, he said, it will be further discussed and it will be part of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 discussion under socio-economic issues.
Earlier, in March 30, it was reported that the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry may negotiate with the Federal Government for a higher portion of the revenue from tourism tax.
Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Assaffal P Alian was reported as saying there is still room to improve so that the State can enhance its revenue.
He said, in terms of tourism contribution, Sabah is currently number one in Malaysia.
Prior to that, Federal Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that 50 per cent of the revenue from last year’s tourism tax, estimated to be at RM67.74 million, would be distributed to state governments.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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