Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Chinese tourism delegation lauded for initiating closer ties with Sarawak


MIRI: Assistant Minister for Tourism Datuk Lee Kim Shin welcomed the efforts taken by a tourism group from Beijing, China to show interest to invest in tourism here as it represented a great opportunity to boost the local tourism sector and the economy.

During a courtesy visit by a delegation from Beijing Tourism Group (BTG) and Beijing Glory International Cultural Development Co Ltd (Beijing Glory), Lee discussed several issues relating to tourism sector with the visitors – one of which was air-connectivity.

“We get hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists coming here yearly, and similarly, tens of thousands of Mirians travelling there either for leisure or business. Therefore, we have proposed to airlines companies to increase the number of connecting flights to ease the travel burden,” said Lee.

The delegation was headed by Beijing Glory president Liu Ning. Among the visitors were Liu’s deputy Chew Koh Choan and chief strategy officer of BTG-Jiangguo Hotels & Resorts, Wang Qiang.

Project manager Wu You from the delegation also briefed Lee on a proposed project by the two companies for Sarawak.

“Our Sarawak Tourism project will focus on forming a consortium with Sarawak to jointly develop tourism as well as to explore the opportunities here.

“Through a Sarawak-Beijing tourism programme, we are looking at the possibility of bringing Chinese tourists here and vice versa.

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