Liew speaking at the press conference at the State Assembly building.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah registered a 5.3 percent increase in the number of visitors in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, making the total arrivals as of June this year at 1.891 million.
Deputy Chief Minister Christina Liew said that last year, Sabah received a total of 215 charter flights from China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand.
“As of July this year, we have welcomed the same number, 215 flights, and are expecting at least 200 more charter and extra flights from China, Korea and Japan for this summer season until March next year,” Liew, who is also the Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister, told reporters at the State Assembly Sitting here.
She said the flights are from China’s second tier cities, such as Zhengzhou, Wenzhou, Nanning, Tianjin, Yi Wu and Xiayang.
At least 76 charter flights are expected from South Korea, including one coming from Jeju Island, she said, adding that it is the first direct flight from the island to Kota Kinabalu.
“We have already received 152 charter flights during the first half of the year or an additional 20,000 tourists from China and Japan into Sabah. This is a great opportunity to spread these arrivals to the east coast as the current number of rooms in the west coast will not be able to cope with the influx.
“We need to be able to give the tourists attractive products and complement that with improved services in the east coast. We have launched tour packages in Tawau and will be doing the same in Sandakan soon,” she said.
As for scheduled flights, Liew said AirAsia will be starting its direct flights from Kota Kinabalu to Bangkok this Thursday, a daily double from Shenzhen and to Macau this November.
Currently, 196 scheduled international flights from 21 international cities fly into the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) every week.
“With the charter flights, we are on track to reach the target of 3.85 million arrivals this year,” she said, adding that Sabah as a tourist destination is becoming more and more popular, and tourism players in the state as well as the government are trying to develop more new features to add to present tourism attractions.
The state government will continue to focus on developing its tourism sector as it is a major contributor to its revenue.