Kota Kinabalu: Major works on the expansion of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) terminals and runway will begin this year.
In announcing this, Deputy Chief Minister and State Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Tan Sri Datuk Chong Kah Kiat said the project is expected to be completed within 30 months to cater for the projected increase in air traffic.
"KKIA is well positioned to be the eastern gateway into Malaysia and the strategic air-hub for this region.
"Being the second busiest airport in the country after Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the KKIA has served some 3.9 million passengers last year, an increase of 56 per cent above its operating capacity of 2.5 million passengers," he said at the presentation ceremony of the Sabah Tourism Awards 2005 at Sutera harbour Resort here last night.
On the tourism industry, Chong said Sabah had continued to witness the dramatic growth of the industry due to many direct flights from Australia, China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand.
For example, visitor arrivals from China increased 98.5 per cent in 2004 over the previous year with the operation of direct MAS flights from cities such as Guangzhou (four times weekly) and Shanghai (thrice weekly).
The introduction of the twice weekly Osaka flights and the additional third Tokyo flight to Kota Kinabalu further boosted Japanese arrivals from 24,500 in 2003 to 44,006 in 2004, an increase of 79.6 per cent, Chong disclosed.
He said with the projected growth of visitor arrivals we expect to see a corresponding growth and development of tourism infrastructure and facilities in the state to cater for the increase.
However, the nature of Sabah's touristic assets and resources calls for sensitive and sustainable development which demands not only in the development of appropriate physical infrastructure but also in the development and maintenance of high standards of services and creation of innovative packages.
New Straits Times journalist Jaswinder Kaur grabbed the Best Tourism Article Award under the Best Malaysia-based Writer category while her sister Harjinder Kler from The Borneo Post grabbed the Best Malaysia-based Writer (Sabah) award.
The Minister's Special Recognition Award went to Reto Klauser, the ex-general manager of the Shangrila's Rasa Ria Resort, Tuaran.
Numerous other awards were also given under various categories such as The Cleanest Town, Best Shopping Complex, Best Entertainment Spot, Best Restaurant, Best Tour Guide, Best Tour Operator, Best Tourist Attraction and Best Hotel Services.
Courtesy of Daily Express
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