KOTA KINABALU: Sabah registered 2,486,387 tourist arrivals in the first nine months of this year – generating RM5.309 billion in revenue.
The tourism sector generated RM4.940 billion during the corresponding period last year.
“Tourism is a dynamic and growing industry,” Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said when winding up his ministry’s speech at the penultimate State Assembly sitting here on Wednesday.
Masidi said his ministry was working very hard to market Sabah as a world nature-tourism destination and to improve customer services.
“There has been a surge in domestic arrivals. A total of 1,636,962 from the 2,486,387 tourists who visited Sabah between January and September were Malaysians,” he said, adding that the figure represented a 1.1 per cent increase.
He also said 849,425 foreign tourists visited Sabah – an increase of 14.2 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year.
“We are confident of meeting the targets set for this year,” he said, adding that tourism generated revenue of RM6.607 billion in 2015.
Responding to Datuk Nasir Tun Sakaran (BN-Senallang), who asked whether the number of tourists who visited a district was recorded, Masidi said this could be determined based on the visits to the various tourist spots. He suggested that the District Tourism Action Committee which is chaired by the district officer to initiate the setting up of a database on tourists visiting Semporna.
Continue reading at: RM5.3 billion tourism revenue for Sabah in first nine months
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