KUCHING, July 25 — The federal government wants to encourage more chartered flights to come to Sarawak in efforts to improve air connectivity to the state in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2020.
Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) secretary-general, Datuk Isham Ishak said, at present, the policy was for regional airlines to venture into coach-sharing such as local airlines with Air Arabia in Langkawi.
“For Sarawak, we are also doing the same but some airlines do not want to come in first, they want to test the market.
“So that is why we want to encourage chartered flights first and if there is an incremental demand, then definitely there will be more chartered flights and fixed scheduled flights coming into Sarawak,” he told reporters during a visit to the Kampung Darul Islam Belimbing Homestay in Puncak Borneo, 55 km from here, today.
This was in response to a statement by Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah yesterday requesting the federal government to help arrange for air connectivity to the state during Visit Malaysia Year 2020.
Isham said there was also a need to increase air connectivity because currently only 2.2 million seats for incoming flights were available, putting Malaysia at number three among Asean countries after Thailand and Singapore in that aspect.
Unlike Sabah, which largely received tourists from China, he said Sarawak was more unique as it was the preferred eco tourism destination for Europeans and, despite being small in numbers, were regarded as quality tourists who spent more.
On the homestay programme statewide, he said Sarawak recorded 33,000 visitors last year, an increase from 31,000 in 2017 while the Belimbing Homestay recorded 329 visitors, including 85 international tourists with total receipts of RM24,240 up to June this year.
The 22 homestay operators at Kampung Darul Islam Belimbing offered products including jungle trekking, viewing of the Rafflesia flower, river activities and keringkam embroidery handicraft while MOTAC’s research showed that foreign visitors, especially from Europe, loved such activities, he said.
“Now we have students from universities doing programmes here and these students can become ambassadors after their visit here and they can speak about this village,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Belimbing homestay operator, Ahmad Majid Dollah, 76, said activities that his guests from Brunei, Thailand and India undertook included jungle trekking to the nearby hills and farms. — Bernama
