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11th July, 2008
KOTA KINABALU: The arrival of domestic and international visitors to Sabah increased by 0.8 per cent in the first five months of this year.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said compared to the same period last year, domestic arrivals increased by 14.4 per cent from 565,013 to 646,131.
He added that the January-May preliminary figures also saw the international tourist arrivals going up to 987,660.
The number of Australians and Koreans visiting Sabah went up by 26.7 per cent (from 7,977 to 10,106) and 26.2 per cent (from 29,439 to 37,142), respectively.
There was also an increase of 23.5 per cent in arrivals from China including Hong Kong from 30,257 to 37,310 people while tourists from the United Kingdom and Japan had gone up by 25.2 per cent (from 10,711 to 13,405) and 13.6 percent (from 12,714 to 14,446) respectively.
Tourism, Masidi said contributed 15 per cent to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) last year “and this year we are targeting 25 per cent”
He was speaking to reporters after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Sabah Tourism Board (STB) and Telekom Malaysia Berhad here for the sponsorship of the. TM 22nd Mt Kinabalu International Climbathon
Masidi commended TM for sponsoring the August 23-24 event at Kinabalu Park in Ranau for the third consecutive year. TM is sponsoring RM300,000 for this year’s Climbathon.
He also said this year’s event remained part of the prestigious Buff Skyrunner World Series circuit, which involved six races, for the seventh consecutive year
It is sanctioned by the Federation for Sports at Altitude (FSA), an international body based in Italy for promotion and regulation of athletes and events up to 4,000 meters above sea level racing on high altitude.
The Climbathon is the 4th leg of the international circuit. The other races are held in Spain, Switzerland, Andorra, United Kingdom and Italy.
Through the Sky Running World Championship, top runners from around the world would meet in Sabah to compete in the Climbathon which is a race up Southeast Asia’s highest peak.
Next year, Masidi said Sabah would host the crowning of the overall champion of the world mountain climbing circuit.
“And this would surely make the state a centre of attraction for tourists from all around the world,” he said enthusiastically.
As of today, he said a total of 93 participants from Australia, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Thailand, Sweden, USA and Singapore. have registered for this year’s Climbathon.
“There has been a significant increase in the participation of runners from West Malaysia for the past two years, thanks to the sponsor, Telekom Malaysia Berhad. We will be expecting more participants until the closing date on August 18,” he said.
Last year, 364 runners took part in the climbathon.
Apart from top world mountain runners competing this year, the Gurkhas based in Brunei will also be taking part this year.
Also adding flavour to the race, Masidi said, would be participants from the Sports and Wellness Club of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) from Singapore which would be sending 16 runners comprising different nationalities as well as the winners of this year’s Mount Fiji race in Japan.
Cash prizes totalling USD33,400 and gold pendants are up for grabs this year and runners who complete the race would also receive a medal and certificate of participation.
Masidi said:” This event will certainly complement our efforts in promoting Kinabalu Park, Malaysia’s first World Heritage Site, thus placing Sabah and Malaysia as a whole in the world tourism map.
At the MoU signing yesterday, STB was represented by its chairman Tengku Datuk Zainal Adlin and Sabah Park director Paul Basintal while TM by its Sabah general manager Sukkuriya Masri and TM assistant manager Suhainih Engson.
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