KOTA KINABALU: Tourism in Sabah is likely to thrive this year with a possibility of SilkAir supplementing Chinese and Indian arrivals using its wide network from major cities in China and India.
During a meeting with Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun recently, SilkAir had expressed keen interest to work with Sabah Tourism on contributing arrivals from China and developing the Indian market via Singapore.
Close to 2.7 million visitors from China and India visited Singapore up to November 2016.
Currently, seven airlines fly direct from Chinese cities into Kota Kinabalu International Airport. SilkAir operates daily schedule from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu.
“We see this as a huge opportunity to increase our yearly visitor arrivals. We would like to thank SilkAir, which is one of our long-term partners. They have been supporting our destination for more than a decade. Singapore has been the top ten market source for Sabah with over 20,000 arrivals each year,” said Sabah Tourism chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai.
The airline had recently conducted their annual SilkAir Country Managers’ Meeting here in Kota Kinabalu, which was attended by senior management from their operations and commercial divisions. Delegates also visited the Mari-Mari Cultural Village and sampled fresh seafood.