Mountain climbing enthusiast applauds full refund order

KOTA KINABALU: A local mountain climbing enthusiast, KK Tan, has applauded the decision made by the State Government and Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) to direct its members to extend full refund to climbers for Mount Kinabalu climbing packages cancelled from 5 June 2015 to 31 August 2015.

“Just to inform, our tour agent has already contacted us regarding the refund. We are not running away. With such arrangements on refund, we are keen to and definitely will return. I feel proud as a Malaysian seeing the refund arrangements.

“As one of caring Malaysians, I care for the locals and mountain guides affected by the earthquake. I have donated and will donate again part of the refund that I receive later,” he said.

Tan had urged the government to be more proactive in handling the three-week closure of Mount Kinabalu to avoid further damage to the tourism industry.

He suggested agencies involved to offer an option of cancellation with full refund or a rescheduling of the climb, instead of strictly applying the cancellation policy which he described as unacceptable.

His suggestion has caught the attention of Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun who called the relevant agencies, including MATTA, for a special briefing on Monday afternoon.

The briefing was attended by the director of Sabah Parks, Dr Jamili Nais, Datuk Irene Charuruks of Sabah Tourism Board, Ag Ahmad Zaki from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, Sani Sham of Tourism Malaysia, Ravi Karthiravelu from Sutera Sanctuary Lodges and MATTA vice president-inbound, Datuk Tan Kok Liang, accompanied by representatives from MATTA Sabah Chapter.