By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, June 10: Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is optimistic that the tourism sector will slowly recover over the next three to four months.
Admitting that tourism was one of the sectors badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, he said that he had held discussion with tourism players the best approach to open it up gradually.
“We have to slowly build up that confidence. I believe that in the next three to four months’ time things will come back to normal
“We have to build up that confidence. So, we have to ensure that Sarawak is safe to visit such as the availability of hand sanitizers in hotels and so on,” Abdul Karim told reporters after attending the State Consultative Committee at the State Legislative Assembly Complex here today.
He added that he had held discussions with the industry players on the best approaches to resume the tourism indusry after the lockdown has been lifted.
“One of the ways is to encourage domestic travel. We shall concentrate with that first the we can slowly open up to our neighbouring countries such as Brunei and Singapore,” he said.
On a related issue, Abdul Karim hoped that air tickets will closely reduce when the demand surge soon.
“I have been informed that the Federal government will look into the matter,” he said when asked in the current high cost of air tickets.
Meanwhile, Abdul Karim who is also Minister of Youth and Sports said the Sarawak contingent will continue to prepare itself well for the coming Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) Games which has been postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our preparation for Sukma, they must be well prepared even though it involves contact sports
“And I’m monotiling all the sports one by one,” he said.
Sukma 2020 was supposed to be held in Johor in July this year but has been postponed to March next year due to Covid-19 pandemic. —DayakDaily
