Rural tourism in Sabah’s Kadaiaman constituency continues to expand with the opening of a new tourist attraction site at Kg Tengkurus in Kota Belud district.
The new tourism site offers a camping ground with river recreational activities, such as learning about the traditional tagal system and hiking as the main attractions.
The tagal is a natural rehabilitation system practiced by locals, where a certain part of the river or forest is closed for hunting and other human activities each year and only allowed to be opened up during certain months.
The area, known as Mindakod eco-tourism, involves the participation of 48 families, according to its chairman Yonggoi Andah.
Andah stated, “We have heard many villages in Kota Belud have started operating community-based tourism and are doing very well. This has encouraged us to start ours.”
Despite being in its early stages, Mindakod eco-tourism is already attracting campers and hikers, particularly on weekends.
State Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai commended the opening of Mindakod eco-tourism, indicating that Kadamaian has lived up to the expectations as a pilot for rural tourism development.
Also present at the event were Federation of Rural Tourism Associations Sabah (Fertas) President Walter Kandayon, Kadamaian Community Development Leader Demis Rumanti, and Mindakod eco-tourism adviser Datuk Awadnir Matanggap.
Joniston, who is also the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman, shared that there are now over 80 tourism operators in Kadamaian, the majority of which are community-based.
The aggressive development of rural tourism is part of the state government’s effort to empower rural communities economically.
Kadamaian is on track to becoming a world-class rural tourism destination by 2025 and received the Asean Community Based Tourism Standard 2019-2021 award at the Asean Tourism Ministers’ Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam in January 2019.
Sabah decided to push for the Kiulu and Kadamaian rural ecotourism pilot projects in 2018, as announced by the then Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman in the State’s 2018 Budget.
