Sabah has potential to generate RM70 bil from tourism by 2020

By Arman Gunsika

KOTA KINABALU - Sabah has the potential to make RM70 billion from the tourism by 2020. Justifying this optimism, the fact is that tourism and not agriculture is the largest industry in the world and still growing unabated.

Chairman of the Sabah Tourism Board Tengku Datuk Dr Zainal Adlin cited World Tourism Organisation estimates on international tourist arrivals in all countries hitting the 1.6 billion mark by 2020 generating an annual tourist receipt exceeding US$2 trillion or a spending rate of US$5 billion daily.

Just one per cent of that means RM70 billion and Sabah has all the attributes to make it.

"It is a matter of how to harness it sustainably by playing smart and staying focused," he said in his presentation entitled 'Global Tourism Trends - The Challenges and Opportunities for Sabah' at the Swepa Business Convention here.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin