Dennis: Reopening of borders results in huge increase of inbound tourists

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Catherine (second right) presents an invitation letter to Dennis, witnessed by Jong and other working committee members.

MIRI (May 13): The relaxation of Covid-19 safety protocol and reopening of international borders are factors contributing to the huge increase of travellers visiting Sarawak, up over 500 per cent in the first three months of this year.

Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chairman Dennis Ngau said the increment is definitely a positive sign for tourism-related  agencies, STB and stakeholders to work for.

“Indeed, two of the biggest and iconic tourism events to happen here are the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) and Borneo Jazz Festival (BJF). Promotional works on the ground as well as digital marketing teams have been working hard to put up the advertisement to promote the events.

“We are targeting 5,000 (physical and online) audiences for the RMWF and about 3,000 for BJF. I was also told that the sale of tickets is very encouraging.

“I have even motivated my STB team to keep up the work, reaching out to work with strategic engagement partners, to boost the number of tickets sold,” said Dennis during a courtesy call by delegates from the Northern Sarawak Journalists Association (NSJA) today.

With inbound travellers coming back, Dennis said it definitely is a good sign for inbound operators to be back to work again.

“I was told that during the two years of the pandemic, many inbound operators were hanging on the thread. Now with the relaxed protocol and reopening of international borders, they are now back active, preparing to receive tourists again.

“We are happy that they are able to rebound amid the challenges and tribulations,” he said.

The Telang Usan assemblyman was also confident that it is possible for Sarawak to reach its target of 1.2 million inbound visitors and possibly more.

Delegates from the NSJA led by president Andy Jong and organising chairperson Catherine Igang, presented an invitation letter to Dennis to a media appreciation dinner in conjunction with National Journalists Day on May 27.