By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, April 11: Sarawak recorded 229,678 visitor arrivals from January to March this year, a growth of 569 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Thanking the resumption of domestic and international travellers to Sarawak, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the positive progress means the state is likely to achieve its target of 1.2 million arrivals this year.
With the help of several airline partners, which provides greater accessibility, he said Sarawak looks forward to having more direct routes and an increase in frequency from domestic hubs in Malaysia such as Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Johore Bahru, and Kota Kinabalu.
“This is an important step to give Sarawak’s tourism industry the boost it needed. With the reopening of Sarawak’s borders on April 1, we expect to see an increase in international travellers.
“Currently, Sarawak has increased its domestic flight frequency from 562 flights to 615 flights as of April 7. As a result, visitors from Peninsular Malaysia can take direct flights from Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Langkawi, and Kota Bahru to Kuching, while they can take direct flights from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, and Penang to Sibu and direct flights from Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru to Miri,” Abdul Karim said after welcoming 82 passengers from Penang on Firefly Airlines.
Today, the inaugural flight, which touched down at 3.50pm at Kuching International Airport (KIA), was welcomed with a water cannon salute to commemorate the event.
As today’s event was considered another critical milestone for Sarawak and Penang, Abdul Karim said Firefly’s initiative to provide direct connectivity had bridged the two island destinations.
“From today, Firefly will do once-daily return flights. By April 25, flights will be increased to twice a day from Penang to Kuching and vice versa.
“With more direct domestic flights to Sarawak this year, it will drive greater mobility and flexibility that will facilitate visitors’ arrivals to Sarawak. It will be one of the key contributors to economic growth,” he added.
Among others present at the event were Deputy Minister of Tourism Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew; Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Hii Chang Kee; Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor; Malaysia Airlines Berhad group chief operating officer Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi; and global head of sales Roslan Ismail. — DayakDaily
