– extracted and adapted from RAKAN Sarawak January-March 2022 –
With domestic tourism expected to propel the recovery of its tourism sector thanks to greater access to destinations within Malaysia, Sarawak is aiming to receive 1.2 million visitors and generate RM3.2 billion worth of tourism receipts in 2022.
It comes as the number of visitor arrivals in the State rose by over 400 per cent to 72,331 in January this year compared to the same period in 2021.
These targets, if achieved, can also mean a positive growth compared to 2021, whereby Sarawak saw merely 235,245 in visitor arrivals and earned RM536.17 million in tourism receipts.
“Domestic travel is fuelled by demand for destinations which are closer to home and have low population density, as tourists look for open-air activities, nature-based products and rural tourism,” said Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts YB Dato Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He spoke of this during a press conference following the Sarawak Tourism Steering Committee Meeting 2022 that took place in Kuching on 22 February 2022.
The meeting saw the launch of the Sarawak Tourism Quick Facts 2021 as well as the Calendar of Events 2022, which are available online via https://mtcp.sarawak.gov.my/.
Dato Sri Abdul Karim noted that aside from domestic tourists within Malaysia, Sarawak through the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (MTCP) intends to attract visitors from countries in which Malaysia is negotiating with to implement the Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL), including those from the ASEAN region such as Brunei and Singapore.
“We do hope this year, we would be able to bring in the number of visitors targeted,” he stated, adding that through the numerous events that are being organised with COVID-19 standard operating procedures in place, the ministry is looking to rebuild confidence among visitors to travel to Sarawak for the next year or two.
