Sabah set to exceed 3 million tourist arrival target

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is poised to celebrate a bumper year of tourist arrivals, with the state projected to surpass its three-million target by year-end.

As of August, the state had already welcomed 2,094,202 international and domestic visitors, not too far from this year’s target of three million arrivals.

“This is an increase of 25.7% compared with the same period last year (1,665,951 arrivals between January and August 2023),” said state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Christina Liew on Friday (Oct 11).

“So, we believe by December we will have more than three million, exceeding our target,” she added.

She said that domestic visitors accounted for 1,226,971 of the arrivals while international visitors comprised 867,231 to date this year.

“I attribute this positive growth to various factors such as improved consumer confidence, enhanced air connectivity through smart partnership and collaboration with airlines, and marketing campaigns by the Sabah Tourism Board (STB).

“An estimated tourism receipt of RM4.88bil was generated from January to August this year, which is RM1.2bil more compared to the same period last year (RM3.64bil),” Liew added.

She said this while launching Xplore Sabah 2024 at the Sabah International Convention Centre here.

Due to the encouraging development, Liew said the state planned to target four million arrivals next year.

“I believe we can achieve this target. We reached 4.2 million arrivals before the pandemic,” she said.

She said China remains the largest potential tourist market for Sabah, followed by key markets of Brunei and South Korea.

Liew also pointed out that other potential sources were being wooed, noting that the state is expanding its flight frequency from Indonesia and Vietnam.

Liew (second right) visiting one of the booths at Xplore Sabah.

She said she is heading to Abu Dhabi next week and London next month, while also planning a trip to Russia to further expand Sabah’s tourism market.

“(In) a lot of these destinations we are going, some have never heard of Sabah.

“So, I personally have to lead our team and STB to go and promote the state,” she said.

“Hopefully we can achieve another million in tourist arrivals next year so that it will be good for our economy,” Liew said.

She added that the European region market has shown a full recovery to 115% of pre-pandemic levels, with UK and Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and France contributing to this increase.

On the Xplore Sabah event, Liew said it was a significant milestone to promote Sabah as a premier destination for activity tourism.

“The ministry is fully behind this initiative. We believe that Xplore Sabah will play a vital role in telling the world the story of Sabah’s natural beauty, cultural richness, and endless opportunities for adventure,” she said.

An estimated 20,000 visitors are expected to visit Xplore Sabah.

Activity tourism is a type of tourism that focuses on participation in recreational activities and events which often involves physical activities in natural or built environments.

It includes a wide range of categories such as sports, adventure, culture and education.