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Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s Assistant Minister for Tourism is confident that travellers from South Korea will be drawn to the State once Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted, thanks to mentions in a hit television drama series.

Kota Kinabalu and the Greek island of Santorini were touted as having the most beautiful sunsets in the world by a character in a series about young Koreans going into tech start-ups in order to achieve their dreams.

In one episode, the character Cheol San mentions Kota Kinabalu and Santorini while bragging about the views of the sunset from his family’s holiday homes.

State Tourism Assistant Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said the reference to Kota Kinabalu’s sunsets was an affirmation of Sabah’s natural attractions.

“South Korea is one of our biggest tourism markets and I’m aware that many Koreans who have been to Sabah have described the sunsets in Kota Kinabalu as among the best in the world,” he told FMT.

According to Sabah Tourism Board statistics, nearly 30,000 Koreans visited the State in 2019.

Among the popular locations for the sunset views in the State Capital is at the Tanjung Aru beach and the esplanade near the Kota Kinabalu central market.

Kota Kinabalu was also mentioned by the Huffington Post portal in the US in 2017 as among the eight locations in the world with the best sunset views. Others in the list include the West Lake at Hangzhou in China, Dubrovnik in Croatia and Nice in France.