By Dorcas Ting
KUCHING, September 6: The variety of events taking place in Kuching this year have been a great success as the numbers of tourists and visitors have increased beyond expectation.
Highlighting this, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said there are three major events happening in the city this weekend.
“The Best of Asean Designers 2019, OlaBola Musical and Malaysia Junior Bowling, in which we will expect more visitors to come in to the city for the events,” he addressed the media at the Best of Asean Designers 2019 welcoming reception last night.
In addition, he was surprised by the number of participants who have signed up for the Spartan Race 2019 that would take place in October.
“We expect around 3,000 participants but up to last night (Sept 5), the organiser has received some 2,500 applications, in which 60 per cent of the participants are foreigners,” he said.
“This shows that what we are doing to bring visitors to Sarawak are very successful,” he added.
Among the highlights of events to be held in Kuching include What About Kuching (WAK), Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival, World Badminton Master and World Athlete Master, Regatta and International Dragon Boat Race.
Noting that arts-related events such as fashion and performing arts were getting more popular in Kuching, Karim pointed out that this meant that Sarawakians were more trendy and affluent.
“All these events will bring more visitors to Sarawak, while some events drew more visitors than what we expected. These initiatives will help to boost and spur Sarawak’s tourism industry,’ he said.
“My ministry is happy to see such improvement in Sarawak tourism, arts and cultural sector,” he added.
Karim urged the people of Kuching to take good care of the city so that visitors feel welcome and comfortable to explore, appreciate and enjoy this city.— DayakDaily
