Show Cultural Richness For Tourists To Return, Says Masidi Manjun

KOTA KINABALU, July 12 (Bernama) -- There is a need for Malaysians to exhibit their rich culture and traditions for tourists to return for new scenes and experiences. Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said if Malaysians did not value and practise their own culture, it would be possible for the number of international tourist arrivals this year to drop compared to 23.6 million last year.

"Last year was the hardest year for the global tourism industry, but Malaysia was fortunate. In fact, our tourist arrivals increased. "One reason was the political uncertainty in neighbouring Thailand and many tourists shifted their holiday plans to Malaysia. "But now Thailand's situation is getting better and they (tourists) may revert to holidaying there instead of here and this could also hurt Sabah's tourism industry," he told reporters before presenting a keynote address at an international conference on tourism development, here, Monday. The conference on "How to successfully design and implement master plans for sustainable tourism development" was earlier officiated by the Foreign Minister's political secretary Datuk Norhaidi Che Dan.

Masidi said if Malaysia's tourism industry did not improve its products and services, it would be unlikely for the country to meet the 24 million target in international arrivals, expected to generate RM54 billion in tourism receipts this year. Last year, it generated RM53.4 billion or an average of RM1 billion a week, he said.

On Sabah's part, Masidi said the locals should become tourist ambassadors for tourists to obtain first-hand information on the state and elevate Sabah's image as a hospitable, chivalrous holiday destination. "But its a shame if the Sabah people themselves do not have basic knowledge of their own state," he said. In his keynote address, Masidi said his ministry had commissioned the Sabah Institute for Development Studies to undertake a review of the current 15-year Sabah Tourism Master Plan (STMP) and formulate the second STMP for 2011-2025. "The Sabah tourism industry has reached a crossroad in its development and continues to grow steadily, although it has yet to reach a maturity where the industry can be sustainably self-regulating," he said. The two-day conference from today and involving 16 countries is jointly organised by the Islamic Tourism Centre and Universiti Malaysia Sabah.