Chief minister Hajiji Noor made the announcement during the official opening of the 49th Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Fair in Kuala Lumpur today.
Hajiji said Sabah was also fully prepared to welcome international arrivals under the same conditions as soon as Putrajaya reopens its borders from next year.
As of this month, there are 266 weekly direct flights into Sabah from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Penang, Kota Bharu, Labuan and Sarawak, with a total capacity of 43,000 seats.
“Within Sabah, there are 123 weekly flights with a total capacity of 16,720 seats connecting Kota Kinabalu, Lahad Datu, Sandakan and Tawau,” he added.
Selected as “Malaysia’s Favourite Destination” for the third time, after 2015 and 2019, Sabah has taken up 12 booths to showcase its tourism highlights at the Matta fair.
Hajiji said the state had adequate supply in terms of accommodation to meet the expected surge in demand, with an additional 3,506 rooms scheduled to be available following the opening of 11 new hotels in 2022.
He added that following the lifting of movement restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the state had also implemented the Sabah Tourism Recovery Plan for domestic and international segments to boost the tourism sector.
According to Hajiji, the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) has collaborated with tourism industry players to hold virtual engagements, travel expos, promotions, and training on destination updates.
“This includes re-establishing trade and tourist confidence through B2B (business-to-business) and G2G (government-to-government) initiatives with many countries,” he said.
These nations include China, South Korea, Norway, Indonesia, Brunei, India, Italy, Kazakhstan and Turkey.
Hajiji said STB is also working with airlines and assisting them in re-establishing direct flights for domestic and international travel.
Meanwhile, he also noted that prior to the pandemic in early 2020, the tourism industry in the state had experienced an upward trend.
“In 2019, the state recorded 4.1 million arrivals and registered RM8.342 billion in total receipts with RM12 million in tourism tax revenue collected,” he said.
“Among the best performing tourism products with great potential for further growth is the rural and community-based tourism initiative by STB in 2014.
“Two of these community-based tourism clusters – Kadamaian in Kota Belud, and Kiulu in Tuaran – chalked a total income of RM7.57 million and attracted 270,000 visitors in 2019 alone.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA