KUALA LUMPUR: Fully vaccinated travellers will no longer need to undergo swab tests to enter Sabah starting Dec 1, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
With Sabah already in Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), Hajiji said the state is prepared to welcome more tourists, including international ones, when Malaysia reopens its borders.
“As we have transitioned into the next phase of the NRP, the state has decided that travellers coming into Sabah do not need to take swab tests from Dec 1. They, however, need to be fully vaccinated.
“We want to revive our tourism sector. We are ready to receive more tourists who can travel here safely according to the standard operating procedure.
“We are confident the tourism sector can fully recover,” he told reporters after opening the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair at the World Trade Centre here yesterday.
Previously, travellers were required to take RT-PCR tests three days prior to entering Sabah.
Sabah has been selected as this year’s showcase state at the MATTA Fair and has been tagged as “Malaysia’s Favourite Destination”.
This is the third time Sabah has been given the title. The first was in 2015 and the second in 2019.
In his speech, at the launch, Hajiji said flights into Sabah have been increased to accommodate the new influx of tourists.
He added that by this month, there were already 266 weekly direct flights into Sabah from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, Penang, Kota Baru, Labuan and Sarawak, with a total capacity of 43,000 seats.
“Within Sabah, there are 123 weekly flights with a total capacity of 16,720 seats connecting Kota Kinabalu, Lahad Datu, Sandakan and Tawau,” he said.
Hajiji also said the Sabah government had implemented the Sabah Tourism Recovery Plan to improve tourism promotions post-pandemic.
“The Sabah Tourism Board (STB) has collaborated with tourism industry players to hold virtual engagements, travel expos, promotions and training on destination updates.
“This includes re-establishing trade and tourist confidence through B2B (business-to-business) and G2G (government-to-government) channels with many countries including China, South Korea, Norway, Indonesia, Brunei, India, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Kazakhstan and Turkey.
“The STB is also working with airlines and assisting them in re-establishing direct flights for domestic and international travel,” he added.
Hajiji said the state government recognises the importance of tourism as an economic catalyst, with the industry identified as one of the main pillars in its Sabah Maju Jaya Roadmap 2021-2025 development plan.
Sabah’s tourism has always outperformed industry expectations in previous years, he added.
“Prior to the pandemic in 2019, the tourism industry experienced an upward trend, recording 4.1 million arrivals and registering RM8.342bil in total receipts and RM12mil in tourism tax revenue,” said Hajiji.
The state will place extra focus on expanding rural and community-based tourism, which he said is one of Sabah’s best performing tourism products.
“Two community-based tourism clusters, Kadamaian in Kota Belud and Kiulu in Tuaran, had chalked up a total income of RM7.57mil and attracted 270,000 visitors in 2019 alone. We look forward to widening community-based tourism in many parts of Sabah,” he said.
He said Sabah also wants to promote itself as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) destination.
Also present at the MATTA Fair launch were Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin, Sabah Special Tasks Minister Datuk Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif, STB chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk Zainuddin Abdul Wahab and MATTA president Datuk Tan Kok Leong.