KUALA LUMPUR: The repeated kidnapping incidents in Sabah have negatively impacted Malaysia’s tourism sector, especially in the number of tourist arrivals from China.
In fact, Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz
said the impact given by the incidents was worse than the case of the missing
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
As at April, 76 flights from China to Kota Kinabalu were cancelled, 10 of
which were MAS flights from Shanghai, 22 were China Southern Airlines flights
from Shenzen and 44 were Spring Airlines flight from Shanghai, he said in reply
to Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting here today.
“I agree with Yang Berhormat’s opinion that the kidnapping incidents in
Sabah had given a far worst impact to the country’s tourism sector compared to
the effects of the MH370 tragedy.
“From April this year to 2015, the number of tourist arrivals to Malaysia is
expected to decline… and 30,000 potential tourists from China are expected to
cancel or postpone their visits to Malaysia,” Mohamed Nazri said.
As such, Mohamed Nazri said all quarters, including Sabah government and the
Home Ministry, should work closely to restore public confidence, especially
among foreign tourists, that Sabah is a safe place to visit.
Yesterday, a fish breeder and his worker were abducted by two armed men in
Kampung Sapang, west of Pulau Timbun Mata, Semporna, marking the third
kidnapping incident in the east coast of Sabah this year.
On May 6, five armed men abducted a 34-year-old Chinese manager of a fish
breeding company in Pulau Batik in Lahad Datu, just a month after a Chinese
national and a Filipino resort worker were abducted from the Singamata Reef
Resort off Semporna.
In a bid to balance the decline in the number of tourist arrivals from
China, Mohamed Nazri said the ministry had underlined short-term strategy
through Tourism Malaysia by increasing promotional campaign in medium-haul
markets.
“The ministry has also increased its campaign in other countries, including
Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippine, India, Bangladesh, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Australia and New Zealand,” he said.
Apart from that, a crisis management committee had also been set up by
Tourism Malaysia to tackle China’s tourism market and to interact actively with
the tourism players in China to restore their confidence to visit Malaysia, he
added. -Bernama