Abdul Karim (right) holding his winding up speech for the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports. Also seen is Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Lee Kim Shin.
VISITOR arrivals to Sarawak showed an increase of 3.93 per cent for the first quarter of the year when compared to the same corresponding period in 2018.
Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the state recorded a total of 1,117,843 arrival of visitors from January to March of which the main source of visitors came from Brunei Darussalam.
“The top five sources of visitors for Sarawak are Brunei Darussalam (304,823), Indonesia (94,303), the Philippines (14,419), China (9,983) and Singapore (9,024),” he said in his ministerial winding-up speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting today.
With the launch of the Visit Sarawak Campaign (VSC) on December 31, 2018, Abdul Karim said his ministry expects a continuous growth in visitor arrivals especially during the coming mid-year peak season.
“We expect to receive five million visitor arrivals in 2019 and RM8.18 billion in tourism receipts.”
In addition, he pointed out that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports together with Sarawak Tourism Board and other agencies will step up their efforts to position Sarawak as a premier tourism destination.
Citing the China market as an example, he said his ministry has carried out initiatives to enhance the development of this sector in the first quarter of 2019.
“Among them are the establishment of Mandarin-speaking Market Task Force at the ministry-level and the placement of Immigration Clearance reminder notices in Mandarin for the benefits of Chinese tourist at Kuching International Airport.
“The Task Force is also actively looking into Mandarin signage and information at various tourist destinations.”
He added that as a result of working visit and collaboration with China, Yunnan Cultural Troop has also confirmed their participation in the Borneo Cultural Festival in Sibu this July.
“In addition, Nanning City of Guangxi Province and Miri City have started to work on a friendship city relationship for tourism cooperation and collaboration.”