Tourism Malaysia Sabah ties in KK and Labuan with promotion efforts to boost shopping activities

Ramzi (middle) flanked by Hamzah (left) and Salleh (right) speaking to reporters.

KOTA KINABALU: Tourism Malaysia ™ Sabah has specially tied in Kota Kinabalu and Labuan in its promotion efforts in order to boost its shopping activities. TM Sabah director Sani Sham Ahmad said Kota Kinabalu and Labuan were tied in because it is quite difficult for the two destinations to be promoted as a shopping destination on their own.

Thus, Tourism Malaysia Sabah introduced the two destinations in its promotional campaign as “Oh, My Shopping! Kota Kinabalu & Labuan Holiday Packages” to attract avid shoppers to shop and enjoy the scenic tourist destinations in Sabah and Labuan.

The shopping packages were developed after a discussion with the local industry recently, he said during a break at the “Duty Free Seminar 2013” organised by Tourism Malaysia in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2014 at a hotel here yesterday.

“So the shopping packages in Kota Kinabalu are tied in with visits to Kinabalu Park, Tunku Abdul Rahman Park and the culture aspect while the homestay programme was included in Labuan,” said Sani.

“I guess this is one of the effective methods because people don’t fly all the way to Kota Kinabalu just for shopping, unless you tied in or leverage it with the famous Kinabalu Park and the islands… I think it would be appealing,” said a delighted Sani.

Head of Shopping Malaysia Secretariat, Ramzi Abu Yazid noted that the shopping activities in Kota Kinabalu has grown in recent years after the opening of 1Borneo Hypermall and Suria Sabah as it has created plenty of space and opportunities for retailers to set up their businesses in the city.

“The shopping activities in Kota Kinabalu will be further boosted next year as Malaysia Airlines will resume its direct flight operation to Tokyo. I believe we will have more tourists that like to shop for certain products,” said Ramzi.

He added that on average, each of the visitors to Malaysia will usually spend about RM700 on shopping. On the seminar, he said it was aimed to inform, assist and provide guidance to the retailers and players in Kota Kinabalu about the dutiable items.

KPMG Management & Risk Consulting Sdn Bhd, director (management consulting) Nik Anira Nik Mohd Zain said based on their findings, most of the foreign tourists do indeed prefers tour packages that combined with nature, adventure and shopping.

“So, we think promoting Kota Kinabalu as the next shopping destination is very good. While in Kuching, our findings showed that shopping is last in the itinerary list,” said Anira who is one of the speakers.

Other speakers were Royal Malaysian Customs Department senior assistant director Salleh Samuri, Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism senior principal assistant director Hamzah Mahadi and MasterCard vice president (member relations & marketing) Penny Tan.

-New Sabah Times.