Ministry promoting rural tourism areas in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: The State Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment (KePKAS) is committed to promoting rural tourism areas in Sabah, said its minister, Datuk Christina Liew.

Christina said among the efforts in this endeavour include marketing areas and products of rural tourism here through social media as well as through participation in domestic and foreign tourism events.

She said various tourism segments have been upgraded and packaged to provide another level of experience for tourists, and the state government has also been supporting and advocating for more Community Based Tourism (CBT) activities.

She said various efforts and initiatives have also been implemented by the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) to help entrepreneurs or local communities in such activities, either in terms of infrastructure or facility or training needs.

“My ministry through STB has targeted CBT in Sabah to achieve 80 percent compliance with Asean Standards by 2030.

“This accreditation will highlight the state on the international stage and further attract more tourists to enjoy its nature and support local product,” she said in the State Assembly sitting question-and-answer session here on Thursday.

She was responding to nominated assemblyman Datuk Raime Unggi who asked KePKAS’ efforts to help local entrepreneurs by promoting not only tourism hotspots in Sabah but also the lesser known ones.

Christina said in addition, in terms of promotion, STB is in the process of publish digital leaflets of each district, with nine published so far for the Kiulu, Tenom, Kudat, Kinabatangan, Membakut, Telupid, Sipitang, Kuala Penyu and Kota Belud districts. She said participation of local entrepreneurs in domestic and foreign tourism events is also one of the ministry’s methods to ensure the visibility of the provided tourism products and packages, such as through the Sabah Community Based Tourism Festival, which will be held on a larger scale at IOI Putrajaya mall from October 18 to 20 this year.

She added that a Business-to Business (B2B) session was also held between CBT entrepreneurs here under the advocate of the Federation of Rural Tourism Association Sabah (FeRTAS) and Sabah tourism agents which has provided CBT operators the opportunity to interact with tourism agents to package and market their products effectively.

“Therefore, the ministry