Karim: State’s tourism sector on road to recovery
KUCHING: The tourism sector in Sarawak is beginning the process of recovering following the Movement Control Order (MCO) as more people begin to visit places of interest after months of staying at home, said state Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He expressed confidence that with people now keen to go out post-MCO, tourism industry players in the state can expect their business to pick up.
“Sematan, Telok Melano – the roads are jammed. This shows that locals are going out after staying home for three months.
“I believe that resorts, homestays will return to normal,” he told reporters at the launch of the special discounted rates for Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) in Santubong on Saturday.
Abdul Karim said to further boost Sarawak’s tourism sector, the state government is offering discounted rates for places of interest that charge entry fees, such as SCV, which will be available until year-end to encourage local visitors to visit with their families.
The special rates will also be extended to include museums upon their reopening, he added.
To a question, the minister said the number of visitor arrivals in the state, which had been set at five million, is expected to be lower due to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding there was a drastic drop between February and May when commercial flights were banned.
Meanwhile, Abdul Karim said programmes and activities planned by his ministry and Sarawak Tourism Board for the remainder of this year will be reevaluated or held on a smaller scale.
“We want to have some entertainment going on until the year end rather than having none at all.”
Those present at the launch ceremony included federal Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, Sarawak Economic Development Corporation chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Abdul Aziz Husain and SCV general manager Jane Lian Labang.