Increasing tourists in Sabah this year

KOTA KINABALU: The arrival of domestic and international visitors to Sabah increased by 0.8 per cent in the first five months of this year.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said compared to the same period last year, domestic arrivals increased by 14.4 per cent from 565,013 to 646,131.

He added that the January-May preliminary figures also saw the international tourist arrivals going up to 987,660.

The number of Australians and Koreans visiting Sabah went up by 26.7 per cent (from 7,977 to 10,106) and 26.2 per cent (from 29,439 to 37,142), respectively.

There was also an increase of 23.5 per cent in arrivals from China including Hong Kong from 30,257 to 37,310 people while tourists from the United Kingdom and Japan had gone up by 25.2 per cent (from 10,711 to 13,405) and 13.6 percent (from 12,714 to 14,446) respectively.

Tourism, Masidi said contributed 15 per cent to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year “and this year we are targeting 25 per cent”

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Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon - Skyrunner 2009 champions to be crowned in Sabah

Kota Kinabalu: After 22 years of hosting the "World's Toughest Mountain Race", Sabah has been given the honour to be the venue to crown the champions of the Buff Skyrunner World Series in 2009.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the honour shows the confidence of the skyrunning series organisers in the State's capability to organise the annual international event.

The skyrunning series was mooted five years ago with runners competing in six races held in Spain, Switzerland, Andorra, Sabah (Malaysia), United Kingdom and Italy.

The Mount Kinabalu Climbathon is the only race in the circuit held outside of Europe, which is sanctioned and associated with the Federation for Sports at Altitude (FSA), an international body based in Italy for promotion and regulation of athletes and events up to 4,000 metres above sea-level (racing on high altitude).

This year, the overall champions would be crowned at Lecco, Italy on September 21 after the Sentiero delle Grigne race.

Masidi said that to date 93 participants from Australia, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Sweden, US and Singapore have signed up for the Climbathon on Aug 23-24 at Kinabalu Park, Kundasang.

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Gayana Eco Resort - Nature lovers’ resort

KOTA KINABALU: Visitors can now enjoy the state's natural diversity in the lap of luxury, just a 10-minute speedboat ride outside the city.

After a year-long refurbishment, the Gayana Eco Resort at Malohom Bay in the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, is open for business.

A local company, Gayana Eco Resort Sdn Bhd, took over the property last year.

The new resort had 44 luxury chalets on the water, which command a sea or a jungle view, said general manager Scot Toon.

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Tickets to Sarawak Rainforest music festival snapped up

KUCHING: More than 18,000 tickets to the three nightly concerts of the 11th Rainforest World Music Festival, which kicks off Friday at the Sarawak Cultural Village near here, have been snapped up as of Wednesday.

Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Gracie Geikie said the rush for tickets began several days ago.

She said the three preview shows in the city had generated great interest and boosted ticket sales among local music lovers.

Geikie said the organisers had limited the crowd for the three-day performance to 24,000 to ensure safety and comfort of the music lovers. Last year's festival attracted some 22,000 music lovers, nearly 60% of whom were non-Sarawakians.

This year's tickets are priced at RM90 (adult) and RM45 (those aged three to 12) for a one-night concert.

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EcoBoxes for use at Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival

KUCHING: Some 100,000 EcoBoxes will be distributed free of charge to food vendors selling food at the coming Rainforest World Music Festival (11th RWMF) 2008 which will kick off on July 11 (Friday).

Makan-Media Managing Director Issac Lee said, the boxes are bio-degradeable and supposedly to be more healhier than polystyrene containers.

“Given the adverse information on polystyrene, no food outlets today will serve food in polystyrene boxes. Consumers in today’s modern and health conscious world are well versed on the negative impacts associated with polystyrene.

“It is for that reason that many countries in the world are banning the use of this hazardous material,” said Lee when handing over the boxes to the Minister of Urban Development and Urbanisation Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh at the latter’s office here yesterday.

He said the boxes were manufactured locally.

Lee added that EcoBox is an environmentally positive step in food packaging that brings messages straight into the hands of consumers, joining them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, everyday.

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