KOTA KINABALU: Some 2.3 million tourists are expected to arrive in Sabah this year, bringing in an estimated RM4 billion for the tourism industry, said Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin Tengku Mahmood.Last year, 2.33 million tourists visited the Land Below the Wind, which drew in RM3.8 billion for the state.
“In 2015, we expect 3.55 million tourists to visit Sabah and bring in RM8 billion,” he said in his presentation during the launch of Meeting & Incentive in Sabah and Labuan guidebook at Kampung Nelayan restaurant here Thursday.
He added that the Kota Kinabalu International Airport was the busiest airport after Kuala Lumpur International Airport, with 140 scheduled flights a day.
Even so, the number of flights synergised with the number of hotel rooms available for tourists, he added.
In addition, Zainal said there were more than 400 hotels in Sabah providing over 15,000 rooms for tourists.
“An additional 6,000 rooms are needed by 2010,” he said, adding the average hotel occupancy rate was around 70 percent here.
The guidebook provides meeting and incentive packages in Sabah and Labuan, and details of travel agencies.
Also present at the launching was the director of Tourism Malaysia Sabah, Roslan Abdullah.