Sabah to woo French tourists

PARIS: Sabah is going all out to increase the number of tourists from France.

And, the Malaysian Embassy here has pledged to give its fullest support to help realise this endeavour.

Speaking to Malaysian journalists during a dinner reception for French major tour operators here recently, Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said France was a potential market which has yet been fully tapped.

“Because air connection is the major factor, the Malaysia Airlines has also agreed to play its part to ensure more arrivals to Sabah,” he said.

Masidi added that he met the Malaysian Ambassador Datuk S. Thanarajasingam and senior MAS and Tourism Malaysia officials based in Paris during a luncheon held at the embassy and their discussions yielded positive results.

“I have also offered to send our cultural dance group to perform at any roadshow to attract the French people to visit Sabah,” he said.

According to Masidi, many French people who visited Malaysia would end up touring only Kuala Lumpur “but I am confident they would love to visit Sabah if MAS could provide easy flight connections to Sabah”.

Of the 81,000 French tourists who visited Malaysia last year, only 4,000 managed to come to Sabah.

“I have also suggested to Tourism Malaysia officials in Paris to promote our forests – Tabin Wildlife Sanctuary as well as Danum Valley instead of only promoting the National Park in Pahang,”he added.

Meanwhile, he reckoed that the Sipadan kidnap incident some years ago was still foremost in the minds of some French people “but I would like to assure that it is very safe to visit Sipadan or other parts of the state.

“Sabah is certainly a very safe destination,” he said.

On the global economic crisis which has also impeded the travel plans of many people, he said:”

The crisis is not something permanent…it is not going to last forever. So, we must swing into action now while waiting for recovery.”

Masidi expressed confidence that Sabah would appeal to the French people “as based on the feedbacks I got, they love to see what we have”.

And, he also said there was a need to have more French-speaking tour guides.

“As such, the private sector too must play its role effectively so that we can all see the desired results,” he said.