KOTA KINABALU, Jan 31 — Sabah hopes for more direct flights from "Western countries” to boost its tourism, said state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew.

Asked whether Sabah will increase the number of inbound international flights, she said that her ministry plans to visit several "Western countries” to promote its tourism value, although she did not specify where.

"Our team, under the new Sabah Tourism Board chief executive officer, is working on this. It is an ongoing process,” she said when speaking to reporters after a Chinese New Year luncheon.

"My assistant minister and I will be visiting a few Western countries this year to explore the possibility of getting more flights to Sabah,” she said.

Liew said that the state was confident of achieving its target of three million tourists this year, after surpassing last year’s 2.2 million target with 2.6 million arrivals.

She said Chinese tourists were still keen on Sabah and a big group was expected for the Lunar New Year holidays.

"With the Malaysia My Second Home programme and the Sabah Convention Bureau, I believe this will help us achieve our target,” she said.

Sabah has been a major destination from Chinese and Korean groups in the past and while tourism arrivals have picked up, industry players report that business had yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

The state has previously said it would diversify its target market but still concentrate on high-value travellers.