Sabah needs another 6,000 hotel rooms

SANDAKAN: Sabah still needs some 6,000 hotel rooms to cope with the increasing number of tourists to the state.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun the government is encouraging the construction of especially four to five-star seaside resort to meet the demand.

“We are also encouraging the provision of home-stay accommodations which would help resolve the shortage of rooms and to generate economic activities in the rural areas,” he said after officiating at the opening of the Ease Boutique Hotel here on Sunday.

The hotel is built by Sara-Timur Properties Sdn Bhd.

Masidi also said with sufficient hotels, tourists visiting Sandakan could spend more time in this east coast district instead of making only day trips.

“And Sandakan, with its growing economy, has attracted many foreign investments. We are also planning to make Sandakan the second most important destination in the state after Kota Kinabalu,” he added.

Meanwhile Masidi said 1.9 tourists have visited Sabah between January and October this year and 45 per cent of them were repeated visitors.