Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Sabah expects RM8 billion from tourism yearly by 2015

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will be expecting five million tourist arrivals and a receipt of RM8 billion a year by 2015, said Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Bolkiah Ismail.

He expressed his confidence in the growth of the tourism industry, as shown by the increasing number of hotels here as well as more flights arriving in Sabah upon the completion of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA).

Bolkiah pointed out that these factors would contribute to the tourist arrivals, particularly international tourists to Sabah as well as more receipts contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Sabah has its fair share of the national tourist arrivals such as 2,300,428 in 2008, 2,246,068 in 2009 and 1,836,957 as of October last year,” he said when officiating at the Tamariska Tours and Travel Forum organised by TSA Borneo Sdn Bhd and Sabah Consumer Cooperative Bhd (KPSB) here yesterday.

He further revealed that tourist arrivals had leapt from 5.5 million tourists in 1998 bringing in RM8.6 billion receipts to 23.65 million arrival in 2009 and RM53.4 billion receipts.

Many of the travellers were repeat visitors.

Bolkiah further said the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) ranked Malaysia as the world’s top 10 international destinations in 2009, while Lonely Planet listed Malaysia in the top 10 countries for ‘Best in Travel 2010’ and ‘Best Value Destination for 2010’.

He added that UNWTO said majority of future tourists would come from emerging markets like Brazil, India and China.

On another development, Bolkiah lauded TSA Borneo Sdn Bhd’s effort in providing a mixed approach in the tourism trade to further develop the industry in an emerging market.

Tamariska Solutions offers membership for vacation packages and income supplement through a system of ‘member gets member’.

The programme is a solution for anyone who wishes to have his or her own business without seeing the background of a person.

Tamariska Tour Package provides domestic and overseas packages with a special price.

Travellers who buy Tamariska Tour Package will automatically obtain membership and receive benefits and facilities.

The membership system is also said to provide various bonuses for qualified members.

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