23% more participants at Matta Fair Sabah 2015

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KOTA KINABALU: The participation of exhibitors at Matta Fair Sabah 2015 has increased by 23 percent compared to last year.

Matta Sabah Chapter chairman Robert Chong said a total of 114 booths were taken up by travel agents, tour operators, airlines, national tourism organizations, government agencies and travel related products and service organizations this year.

Chong who is also the organizing chairman for the fair added that a total of 42 exhibitors participated in this year’s fair compared to last year of only 28 exhibitors.

“This is a good indication of the support and confidence in Matta Fair,” he said adding that Matta Fair was the number one consumer travel and tourism fair in Malaysia, aiming to provide consumers with the opportunity to purchase the best discounted airfares and travel packages.

He said this in his welcoming address during the launching of Matta Fair Sabah 2015 at Suria Sabah.

The three-day fair, which will end tomorrow (July 5th) will give consumers the chance to win attractive lucky draw prizes that have been prepared by the organizer.

“The Matta Fair is an important income generating activity for the many service related sectors in the travel and tourism industry.

“We, at Matta Sabah Chapter, believe there are huge economic spin-offs arising from this fair and one of the projects that Matta Sabah is very proud of as a contributor to the growth of not only to the tourism industry but to the local economy as well,” said Chong.

The event was launched by Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.

Also present were chairman of Sabah Tourism Board Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, president of Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta), vice president-inbound of Matta Datuk KL Tan, director of Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture Sabah Awang Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar and director of Tourism Malaysia Sabah, Sani Sham.

After the launching ceremony, Matta presented a RM7,500 donation to each family of the three mountain guides who perished during the recent earthquake in Ranau, and another RM50,000 Tabung Bencana Gempa Bumi Gunung Kinabalu as a donation to ease the burden of those affected by the incident.