Kota Kinabalu: Some 13 travel agents from Kazakhstan arrived here on Tuesday for a familiarisation tour.
Sabah Tourism Board (STB), AirAsia, Hilton Hotel and various tourism associations jointly hosted the familiarisation tour from June 25-27.
This visit marked a significant milestone in STB’s efforts to expand its reach into Central Asia.
“Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA), the second busiest airport in Malaysia, plays a crucial role in connecting Sabah to the world, with 245 weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu,” said STB in a statement, Wednesday.
“AirAsia’s four weekly flights between Almaty and Kuala Lumpur on the Airbus 330, with a capacity of 285 seats, complement the 79 weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, enhancing accessibility for Kazakhstani travellers.”
The Board said Central Asia is a new market for it.
“Efforts to tap into this potential began with a successful Sabah roadshow in Uzbekistan in April this year.
“The promotion of Sabah in Kazakhstan, facilitated by AirAsia, was expected to boost STB’s presence in Central Asia further,” it said.
A key highlight of the visit was the business-to-business (B2B) session conducted on the day of the delegates’ arrival.
“The session provided an excellent platform for networking and business discussions and laid the groundwork for future collaborations.
“The B2B session brought together the 13 agents from Kazakhstan and 20 Sabah tourism players from the various tourism associations in Sabah,” it said.
STB expressed confidence that with the dedicated support of their partners and the aggressive promotion of Sabah, tourist traffic from Kazakhstan to Sabah via Kuala Lumpur would increase.
“With consistent growth in indirect traffic to Sabah from Central Asia, STB hoped that AirAsia would consider the feasibility of a direct flight from Almaty to Kota Kinabalu soon,” said STB.
