Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Sabah excellent for geotourism


KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has bright potential for geotourism development, so tourism players in the state should tap into it, said Professor Felix Tongkul, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) head of the Centre for Natural Disaster Studies.

Among places which have huge potential are Kinabalu Park, Simpang Mengayau and the limestone caves in Madai, Gomantung and Banggi, as well as the landslide-prone areas in Kundasang and Ranau, he said.

“There are people, including geologists, who are interested to study the landslides in Kundasang and Ranau,” Felix said in his paper entitled ‘Sabah’s geotourism potential’ at a seminar on developing Sabah’s tourism products and brand.

But before geotourism is exploited, the state government must first conduct a study on how the natural resources could be preserved from wear and tear of tourist activities, he stressed.

“My personal worry is that because the state’s tourism players are not prepared to embark on geotourism, they could destroy the geological sites,” he said, adding that it was therefore important to resolve this problem first.

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