Datuk Bolkiah Ismail
KOTA KINABALU: The State government plans to develop Tenom, Beaufort, Pitas and a few districts in the northern Sabah as new homestay destinations.
Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, Datuk Bolkiah Ismail said that to the media after launching the Matta Fair Sabah 2011 at Suria Sabah shopping mall.
He said, although 16 districts have registered for the homestay programme but there were not many in northern part of the state.
“We have so far 228 registered homestays in Sabah and the number is increasing. We are hoping that our request to the Federal Ministry will increase the number even more due to the tourism potentials we can offer in Sabah.
“We target about 250 homestays to be approved by end of the year and we are confident that this
industry will help our tourism to grow and to bring positive impact to our State,” he said.
Meanwhile, director of the Tourism Ministry’s office in Sabah Nely Nasir confirmed the figure, adding that Sabah has potentials in the homestay programme and that the approval from the ministry would be expedited.
She said, the development of the homestay programme in Sabah are monitored by both the State and Federal governments.