Behind the banner, from left: Lu, Lo, Geng, Chang, Wong and Liu with the tourists who travelled on the maiden charter flight to Sabah upon arrival at KKIA.
KOTA KINABALU: Some 200,000 northern China tourists are expected to visit Sabah annually as Zhejiang Loong Airlines Co. Ltd. (Loong Air) commenced its thrice-weekly charter flights from Xi’an city, China to the state capital here yesterday.
The charter flight, which runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from January to March this year, was initiated with the joint effort by Loong Air and Beijing Shun Tian International Travel Co. Ltd (STIT). The company is currently seeking approval from the authorities to provide scheduled flights for this route.
Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Jimmy Wong said STIT aimed to bring in 200,000 tourists from 14 different cities across northern China, mainly Xi’an, Zhengzhou, Nanjing, Tianjing and Beijing, to Sabah via the charter flight.
“Today marked the first batch of 165 tourists who travelled on this maiden flight to Sabah,” he said when welcoming the passengers at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) here yesterday.
He hoped that the travel company would achieve one million tourist arrivals to Sabah in the next two to three years.
Wong said STIT was also involved in chartering flights out of China to Jeju island, South Korea.
“The company is currently targeting Sabah because our beautiful attractions, especially our islands and hospitality of the people.”
He also expressed hope that the charter flight would be extended to Tawau and Sandakan soon.
“We are happy to see lots of Chinese tourists celebrating the Lunar New Year in Sabah.
“I hope they will have a memorable and unforgettable stay here.”
Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew has led a delegation to Xi’an last September where she witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of Friendship and Cooperation between the Kota Kinabalu City Hall and Xi’an Municipal People’s Government.
In December last year, Wong represented the State Government in witnessing the signing of a MoU between Loong Air and STIT at Jeju island, which aims to develop and establish Sabah as a new hub for both parties, to bring in a foreseeable 200,000 northern China tourists annually to Sabah.
On another note, Wong said the Immigration Department should treat Chinese tourists with utmost care and hospitality to encourage more to visit Sabah.
He pointed out that the tourism industry would suffer due to negative press, which in turn, be a setback during the Visit Malaysia Year 2020.
He added that airline staff also had the responsibility to guide passengers to the immigration counters as many of the Chinese tourists were free independent travelers (FITs).
Also present were Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chairman Ken Pan, Loong Air president and captain Liu Yi, Loong Air general manager of marketing department Lu Hongkun, Shun Tian Tours and Travel Sdn Bhd managing director Emerson Lo Vun Zet, Shun Tian Tours and Travel operations director Aaron Chang and Shaanxi Overseas Tourist Co. Ltd general manager Leila Geng.