Work together to promote central region as tourist destination

SIBU: Local government agencies should work together with the private sector on a plan to promote the central region as a tourist destination, Dato Andrew Wong Kee Yew suggested yesterday.

Giving his view from a business perspective, he said this will help sustain the Sibu- Kota Kinabalu ( KK) route by AirAsia, which will start in January next year.

“Local government agencies have to really work with the private sector to nail things down as the private sector needs help from the government, and vice versa,” he pointed out.

“One thing they always forget when we talk about Sibu is that people tend to forget tourism potential in Sarikei, Kanowit, Bintangor, Kapit, Song and Pakan.

“So, it is not only the responsibility of Sibu Municipal Council (SMC), Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) or Sibu Resident’s Office. It is the responsibility of every single government

Local government agencies have to really work with the private sector to nail things down as the private sector needs help from the government, and vice versa.

Dato Andrew Wong Kee Yew

department in these towns that rely on Sibu as a transport hub - to come together to form a tourism plan to package central region as a tourist destination,” he added.

Wong gave this view when asked on AirAsia operating two rural air routes – KK- Sibu and KK-Bintulu - from January 2019.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke recently announced that the low- cost airline had now been allowed to operate these routes after it was approved by the Cabinet.

Wong described this as a very positive development, saying KK is a huge tourism transit hub.

“We have been fighting for this ever since we designed Visit Sibu Year ( VSY) - that was the ultimate aim to get all the flights coming in from all these hubs.”

He said tourists are coming into KK from Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China because of shorter flight time and thereon from KK to Sibu.

In this regard, he believes that if there is a proper plan to promote Sibu – the gateway to central region – its huge tourism potential can be tapped.

“To me, I find that the local politicians here must get together with the travel agencies, tourism players and work together with the airline to nail down a concrete plan to make sure that the flight stays – with the aim of increasing the flights (frequency) and making sure the flight time are good,” the former Sibu Municipal Council deputy chairman added.

“The federal government has been good to open the door, but how you keep that door wide open is up to local players here,” Wong opined.

He noted that KK relies about 60 to 70 per cent on tourist arrivals.

“If you want to see Sibu grow, you better do the same,” he said, adding that all business owners hope for more tourists to visit Sibu.

On Wednesday, Loke reportedly said the KK- Sibu and KK-Bintulu sectors, which would be operated by AirAsia beginning Jan 1, 2019, would see a whopping 165 per cent increase weekly in passenger volume.

Loke also announced recently that three airline companies would introduce more flights during the festive season to bring the cost of airfares down.

He said Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Malindo Air would offer 20 per cent more flights during the festive season starting next year.