SIBU, May 11: The State is on course to welcome 1.2 million tourist arrivals this year following the reopening of its borders.
Speaking to reporters after launching the 9th Sibu International Dance Festival (SIDF) last night (May 10), permanent secretary in the Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Ministry, Hii Chang Kee said the target is also achievable in light of more direct inbound flights.
“We believe that starting from April, the number of arrivals will be more as the State has opened its border. There are also more direct flights to the State from Brunei, Singapore, Penang and we are also waiting for the Kuching-Pontianak sector,” he said.
Already, he said there was a 596 per cent increase in tourist arrivals in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year.
From January to March this year, a total of 229,678 visitors were recorded compared to 33,135 last year.
Of the figure, domestic tourists make up the biggest share with 219,115 for the first three months this year against 26,976 last year. This is a 712 per cent increase.
As for foreigners, the number of arrivals was 10,563 this year as compared to 6,159 last year.
Hii said there was a growth of 569 per cent in tourism receipts between the two periods.
“The big increase in tourist arrivals during this three months, enabled us to achieve RM517 million in tourism receipts compared to RM77.25 million for the same period last year,” he said.
He anticipated that with a number of international events scheduled to be held starting this June, the State will draw in more tourists.
The events include SIDF from June 9-11, Spartan Race Sarawak (June 11-12), Rainforest World Musical Festival in Kuching (June 16-17) and Borneo Jazz Festival in Miri (June 25-27).
Others include the Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) in Sibu from July 19-23 while Sibu Big Bike Festival, Miri and Kuching Marathon will be held in the later part of the year. — DayakDaily
