Sabah records highest number of homestay tourists last year

 

Tourism Malaysia Domestic and Events Division senior director Iskandar Mirza Mohd Yusof (left) receiving a memento from Sabah Tourism Board chief executive officer Noredah Othman (right) as Tourism Malaysia Sabah deputy director Trecey Tojuka (2nd left), Labuan Corporation’s Tourism, Culture and Arts Department assistant director Zunaidah Hamzah (centre) and Sabah Tourist Association chairman Tonny Chew (2nd right). - Pic by Paul Mu.

PUTRAJAYA: Sabah recorded a total of 9,848 domestic tourists staying at homestays with package sales worth RM469,671.55 last year.

The statistics are based on Malaysian Homestay Experience Programme records up to Aug 31.

Sabah Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Noredah Othman said the state has been emphasising community-based tourism as it has become the preferred and trendy choice among domestic tourists due to the pandemic.

"Rural tourism has picked up in the last two months since interstate travelling was allowed.

"It has also become the ideal destination especially for visitors to practise social distancing due to the open areas in villages.

"Although Peninsular Malaysia also has its own rural tourism, the experience and atmosphere will still be different compared to Sabah," she said in conjunction with the 'My Destination Sabah and Labuan Meet Johor and Putrajaya Roadshow 2022'.

During the launch at a hotel here, Tourism Malaysia Domestic and Events Division senior director Iskandar Mirza Mohd Yusof said at present, tourists were interested to learn about culture, traditions, food, handicraft, and the way of life of the local community.

He said a collaboration between Sabah Tourism Malaysia, STB and Sabah Rural Tourism Associations (FeRTAS) had resulted in a guidebook to promote community-based tourism destinations in eight districts in Sabah, namely Kota Belud, Tambunan, Papar, Kuala Penyu, Nabawan, Beluran, Keningau and Telupid.

Iskandar added they had also launched Sabah Homestay e-Packages in December last year to help owners develop and promote their packages digitally.

As for Labuan island, which is adjacent to Sabah, its warm hospitality could be experienced through its homestays such as Homestay Sungai Labu, Homestay Bukit Kuda, and Homestay Kampung Patau-Patau II which is one of the last remaining water village homestays in Malaysia.

Labuan, which is also being recognised as one of the national geoparks in Malaysia, is rich with its own list of special attractions.

The Labuan national geopark displayed the evolution of sedimentary rocks and landscapes that formed Labuan as well as biological sites.

The roadshow here is targeting buyers in the central region following a session in the southern region of Johor yesterday.

There are 28 sellers from Sabah and Labuan, consisting of 18 tour operators, seven hotels, and three airline companies (Malaysia Airlines, MASwings and AirAsia) to meet 70 to 80 buyers from the central region consisting of travel companies, government departments and corporate organisations.

It involves bilateral business-to-business (B2B) meetings between tour operators as sellers to boost the movement of domestic tourism among travellers in the central region.

Also present were Tourism Malaysia Sabah deputy director Trecey Tojuka, Labuan Corporation's Tourism, Culture and Arts Department assistant director Zunaidah Hamzah and Sabah Tourist Association chairman Tonny Chew.

-nst online.