Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Tourism sector contributed more than RM3 bil to Sabah economy

KOTA KINABALU: The tourism sector in the state has so far contributed RM3.662 billion to the economy as of September this year, said Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun.

He said it was a jump of 12.7 per cent when compared to the same period last year at RM3.249 billion.

“The estimated revenue this year is based on the tourist arrivals for the first nine months this year which totalled 2,096,202 people. From the total, there were 617,260 foreign tourists and 1,478,942 local tourists,” he said during question and answer at the assembly sitting yesterday.

He was responding to Bugaya representative, Datuk Haji Ramlee Marahaban, who asked on the tourism sector contribution to the state’s economy and number of foreign tourists visiting Sabah, particularly those who visited Semporna this year.

In reply, Masidi said there were 24,393 tourists who visited and stayed at the resort islands of Mabul, Mataking and Kapalai for scuba diving and snorkeling in Sipadan from January to September this year.

There were 8,110 domestic tourists and 16,283 foreign tourists comprising of 8,383 from the Asian region, 1,007 from Oceania, 5,176 from Europe, 790 from North America and 927 from other countries.

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