By Tedong Rantayy
MIRI, March 3: The tourism sector is an important income generator for Sarawak’s economy, says Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak Deputy Minister I Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew.
“Sarawak’s tourism industry in 2019 recorded an increase of 5.22 per cent to 4.66 million visitor arrivals compared to 2018. According to Sarawak Regional Tourism Satellite Account (RTSA) 2018, the Gross Value Added of the tourism industry has generated revenue of RM11.57 billion for Sarawak which accounted for 8.72 per cent of share to Sarawak’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” he said today.
According to RTSA 2018, Sarawak’s tourism industry employs more than 243,000 people (19.1 per cent of Sarawak’s total employment), representing nearly a quarter of all jobs in Sarawak. This was before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Sarawak’s tourism sector itself is now doing well, thanks largely to the support of domestic and foreign travelers. Total visitor arrivals for last year in 2023 recorded about 3,929,657 visitors in Sarawak which increased by over 93.82 per cent compared to the same period year in 2022. The arrivals returned to about 85 per cent of the pre-pandemic levels in 2019,” he added.
Ting was speaking at the launching of a hotel in Jalan Brooke, Miri.
He added, tourism receipts jumped by 101.41 per cent to RM9.99 billion in 2023 compared to RM4.96 billion for the year 2022.
“Tourism receipts in 2023 accounted for 7.11 per cent of the GDP,” he said when speaking to those present.
He further said that for this year up til Jan 2024, total visitor arrivals in Sarawak was 352,983, an increase of over 10.63 per cent, compared to the same period in 2023.
“Tourism receipts generated RM907.37 million which jumped by 12.11 per cent compared to the same period in 2023,” he added.
“We are aiming to achieve a total of 4 million visitor arrivals in 2024.” — DayakDaily
