Coronavirus takes toll on tourism in Sarawak with arrivals falling by 65 per cent

Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah. – Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING (Nov 6): Sarawak’s tourist arrivals have dropped by 65 per cent in the first nine months of this year to only 1.15 million people due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah revealed.

The state’s Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister said yesterday that his ministry was projecting only about 1.4 million tourist arrivals for the whole of this year, a huge decline compared to the 4.66 million arrivals last year.

Pointing out that the impact of the pandemic on tourism globally has been unprecedented, Abdul Karim revealed further that the tourism receipts for Sarawak from January to September this year amounted to only RM2.78 billion.

However, he remained optimistic that the state’s tourism industry can pull through.

“I sincerely hope that during this difficult time, all our tourism players and partners will come together in unity, as one big tourism family, to embrace the programmes and initiatives which the ministry continuously put in place, to build a stronger, more sustainable and resilient tourism economy,” he said at the launch of the PANDei E-Tourism Course for tour guides.

He believed that now was in fact an ideal time for the ministry to enhance the tourism industry.

“Industry players such as tour operators, tourist guides, park guides, taxi drivers, e-haling drivers, hotel and restaurant workers need to have continuous training to enhance their skills, knowledge and attitude.

“Therefore, during this low season due to the impact of Covid-19, my ministry has continued to invest on the upskilling and continuous capacity building of the tourism industry players,” said Abdul Karim.

He said his ministry had organised programmes like digital related marketing courses, front liners upskilling courses, and community-based tourism training among others.

Abduil Karim also said to steer Sarawak towards becoming a developed state by 2030, the state government had established the Sarawak Economic Action Council with tourism identified as one of the important economic sectors.

“Therefore, the Third Sarawak Tourism Master Plan will be guided by Sarawak’s tourism aspiration that by 2030, Sarawak will be a leading destination for eco-tourism and businesses’ events in the Asean region driven by empowered communities to conserve heritage, culture, biodiversity and to promote investment and development through responsible actions.

“The aspiration will be translated into three major outcomes in terms of economic, social and environmental,” he said.

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