MALAYSIA – During Wednesday’s state assembly meeting, opposition members “schooled” State Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Environment Datuk Christina Liew on matters about the travel industry.
Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (Umno – Lamag) and Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan – Senallang) were among those who provided advice on how Sabah might increase its revenue and profit from the millions of tourists that visit the state.
Shafie proposed taxing travel wherever feasible as an alternative to handing the federal government all tourism earnings.
He stated that Sabah should be in charge of managing islands and other places, exactly as he did with Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan in 2019 when serving as chief minister.
Bung stated that although the federal government gave other licenses through the Tourism, Arts, and Culture Ministry, the state has the right to discontinue trading licenses in response to international businesses operating in the state “taking away” the business of local players.
Assemblyman Justin Wong of Sri Tanjong proposed that Sabah broaden its target audience for the Tawau market to include foreign tourists rather than just Chinese and Koreans.
Because nature attracts tourists to the state, Datuk Jaujan Sambakong (Warisan – Sulabayan) encouraged the government to place more focus on eco-tourism.
According to Liew (PKR – Api-Api), Sabah welcomes visitors of all nationalities and is constantly seeking to grow its market.
She said that to increase tourism, manage its distribution and avoid concentrating on any one area, increase product offerings, encourage more local businesses to capitalize on tourism’s spillover effects and upgrade infrastructure—including that of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport—several initiatives have been put in place.
As she was wrapping up her remarks, she thanked everyone who had provided feedback on issues about tourism and stated that the ministry would consider all proposals.
