By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, April 1: Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has urged every resident office in Sarawak to propose potential tourism products in their respective divisions to be elevated as an annual tourism event in the State.
The Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts said the State government has decided to reopen the State borders and this will see an increase of international flights to the State.
Thus, he hoped that with the reopening of borders, it will give a positive impact to not only the tourism industry but also to the State’s economy as a whole.
“We want to see Sarawak returning active with the physical organisation of world-class events and festivals such as Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), Borneo Jazz Festival (BJF), Kuching Marathon and Spartan Race.
“At the same time, we want to see all the important events in each division to be held physically. That is why we hope resident offices can bring forward potential tourism products in their respective divisions.
“This is because if the event receives positive feedback from the community and the visitors, it can be elevated as an annual tourism event,” he said when officiating the Sarawak Divisional Tourism Task Team 2022 Promotional Video Awards Ceremony held at Imperial Hotel in Kuching earlier tonight.
He further urged all divisional tourism task teams to take on the initiative to implement events and festivals in a rapid manner with budget assistance from the Ministry.
This, he said, will also encourage an increase in number of tourist arrivals in the State post Covid-19 pandemic.
Ever since the pandemic hits the nation in 2020, Sarawak recorded only 1.19 million of tourists for that year compared to 4.66 million tourists the previous year.
With the Movement Control Order (MCO) in place, the number of tourists had also declined to 235,245 in 2021. — DayakDaily
