Christina (fourth from right), flanked by Pan and Noredah, with the rest of the delegation. Note the rock formations in the background.
CAPPADOCIA: Deputy Chıef Minister Datuk Christına Liew and her delegatıon from Sabah went on a one-hour hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia at the invitation of Dorak Holding Turkey, here, yesterday.
Cappadocia is one of the most amazing and UNESCO-recognised regions attracting millions of visitors and tourists every year with its mesmerising rock formations over thousands of years.
Dorak Holding Turkey Head of Global Brand & Tourism Management, Esra Degirmenci highlighted the historical and touristic importance of Cappadocia to Liew in an earlier meeting to discuss hot air balloon as a tourism product in Sabah.
“What a magnificent landscape! We enjoyed a beautiful and spectacular panoramic view of Cappadocia’s extraordinary rock formations, cave hotels, restaurants and cafes as well as shops around the region. We also caught a glimpse of cave structures that once served as schools and houses where people lived for thousands of years,” said Liew who is also Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment.
During the meeting, Esra had expressed her interest for Dorak Holding Turkey to introduce her company’s Hot Air Balloon Service as outdoor and recreational tourism in Sabah.
“Given its vast expanse of land, Sabah is one of the best places for this tourism product under Kapadokya Baloons (initiated in Cappadocia by Dorak Holding in 1991),” she had told the minister.
Later in the day, the Sabah delegation visited the underground City of Kaymakli, which was built under the hill known as the Citadel of Kaymakli, and opened to visitors in 1964.
Liew is accompanied on her five-day mission to promote Sabah in Turkey by the chairman of Sabah Tourism Board (STB), Ken Pan Ying On, general manager Noredah Othman, marketing manager Humphrey Ginibun and the minister’s private secretary Helen Muhammari.