By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 22: Sarawak is confident of surpassing its target of four million visitors arriving this year, with hopes of reaching five million if the current upward trend persists, buoyed by the array of upcoming events and festivals, including the Sukma Games.
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts Sarawak Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah expressed delight at the surpassing figures for visitor arrivals and tourism revenue in the first two months of this year, which has exceeded expectations.
In January and February of this year, Sarawak garnered RM1.93 billion in tourism receipts, marking an impressive growth of almost 27 per cent compared to RM1.52 billion during the same period the previous year.
Visitor arrivals into Sarawak in January and February also saw a significant increase of 25.12 per cent, welcoming 750,768 visitors compared to 600,037 in 2023.
Foreign arrivals comprised 447,903, while domestic arrivals totalled 302,865, reflecting a 36.55 per cent increase in foreign arrivals and an 11.34 per cent increase in domestic arrivals compared to 2023.
“It is rare for Sarawak to achieve such figures. Therefore, there is a big increase, and we have no complaints. We anticipate that this upward trend will persist until December.
“You will never know that we might even hit five million arrivals, and if that happens, it would be a historic achievement for Sarawak. The highest visitor arrival was recorded in 2019 with 4.6 million,” Abdul Karim stated during a press conference after launching the Rainforest World Music Festival themed ‘Evolution’ at a hotel here today.
Keeping his fingers crossed, he anticipates that Sarawak might surpass the four-million-arrival target earlier than expected, especially with more events and festivals scheduled, including Sukma, Para Sukma, the International Dragon Boat Race, and several music festivals, all of which are expected to attract a considerable number of visitors.
“The numbers are likely to continue growing, particularly during the peak season in the last quarter of the year. January and February are typically considered low months, but after July, we anticipate a surge leading up to December,” he added. — DayakDaily
