S'wak on course to hit five million tourist arrival target, state assembly told

The Star

6 days ago

State Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah delivering his winding-up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (May 27).
KUCHING: Sarawak is on track to achieve its target of five million visitor arrivals this year after receiving encouraging numbers in the first four months, the state legislative assembly was told.
State Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said more than 1.6 million arrivals were recorded from January to April, generating tourism receipts totalling RM4.07bil.
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He said the state was expected to generate RM12.73bil in tourism receipts this year, an increase over RM12.45bil from 4.83 million visitors last year.
"Asean is our key tourism market, with Brunei Darussalam contributing the largest share of visitor arrivals to Sarawak in 2024, accounting for 39.1% or 1.89 million visitors, followed by Indonesia with 13.5% or 653,883 visitors.
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"Singapore and the Philippines contributed 1.2% (59,793) and 1% (46,853), respectively.
"Meanwhile, China became a significant contributor with 1.5% or 74,721 visitors," Karim said when winding up matters related to his ministry on Tuesday (May 27).
He said Sarawak continued to receive large numbers of visitors from Brunei and Indonesia from January to April this year with 514,015 and 236,054 respectively.
China (24,865), Singapore (18,637) and the Philippines (14,482) remained among the top five contributors, he added.
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Looking ahead, Karim said the introduction of Sarawak's own airline, AirBorneo, and the proposed new Kuching International Airport would increase visitor arrivals and take the tourism industry to new heights.
He said AirBorneo would allow Sarawak to plan its destinations of choice in line with market demand without relying on other commercial airlines.
"I believe, through potential strategic partnerships with other established airlines in the near future, AirBorneo will be able to secure air connectivity to major tourism hubs in the world and expand Sarawak's market," he added.
Sarawak's acquisition of MASwings Sdn Bhd to become AirBorneo is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The state government signed a share purchase agreement with MASwings' parent company Malaysia Aviation Group on Feb 12, with the legal and beneficial ownership expected to be transferred to AirBorneo Holdings Sdn Bhd by Dec 31.