PUTATAN: Sabah recorded more than 1.2 million local and international tourist arrivals in the first five months of this year.
State Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said the situation could be seen through the congestion at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) immediately after the arrival of flights from outside Sabah.
“Sabah recorded more than 1.2 million tourists in the first five months of this year.
“The number of visitors at this time shows that Sabah remains the choice of tourist destination among domestic and international tourists.
“More exciting among the visitors are repeat tourists who have come to Sabah before.
“This shows that we have reached the target of three million tourists this year and the State Government is confident that Sabah will be able to exceed the original target,” Joniston said shortly after officiating the 39th PBS Petagas and Tanjung Keramat Annual General Meeting at Kampung Pasir Puteh Mini Hall, here, on Sunday.
Joniston added that his Ministry through the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) established cooperation with local airlines such as AirAsia to establish direct flight routes between Kota Kinabalu and several Asian destinations.
“For example, we currently have AirAsia Jakarta-Kota Kinabalu flights and soon direct flights between Manado-Kota Kinabalu in addition to several new routes.
“Of course this kind of cooperation gives us confidence that the number of tourists will continue to increase from time to time,” he said.
