By Christopher Lidom
KUCHING, May 20: Three international hotel has been approved for construction in Kuching to cater to the thriving tourism industry, says Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
Abdul Karim, who is Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts (MTC) Sarawak, said he was informed of the matter during a meeting with Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“I do not know the exact location, One of it is Ascott Hotel. The other two I am not sure of the names,” he told a press conference held after officiating at ‘Sarawak Tourism Destination Resilience Workshop’ at Imperial Hotel here today.
Asked if the present number of rooms in Sarawak is enough to cater for the increasing number of tourists, Abdul Karim said presently, there are sufficient rooms.
However, he said that there is a need to look into the matter in order to prepare ahead for the next 10 to 20 years.
“Looking at the rate of promotion and rate of global travelers, we will need to have more rooms and this is where the preparation has got to be done—we cannot wait right til the last minute to prepare.
“Preparation is not only for Kuching, but also throughout Sarawak such as in Miri, Bintulu including Sibu, where Scoot Air will have direct flights from Singapore to Sibu starting June 5,” he added.
Meanwhile, commenting on direct international flights to Sarawak, Abdul Karim said the Sarawak government is currently working on it.
He said the Sarawak government has taken an aggressive approach to have a Sarawak-owned airline that will fly not only in Sarawak, but the region.
“Once we launch it, I believe it will move very fast to cater for travelers that we are having now, including interests.
“When you are doing promotions for Sarawak overseas, they will be asking how to get here, and that is why we need all those direct flights as they would not like to transit here and there in order to get here,” he said. — DayakDaily
