UTAR CT aka Computer Engineering

Slump, flu virus scare sees 15pc drop in arrivals

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah recorded a more than 15 per cent drop in international visitors in the first four months of this year, in light of the global economic crisis, Influenza A (H1N1) scare and so on.

Sabah Tourism Board (STB) statistics showed 709,600 domestic and international tourists had visited the State from January to April this year.

But despite the decline in international tourist arrivals, the State still recorded an increase in domestic tourist arrivals.

STB Deputy Chairman Datuk Sari Suhut is, nevertheless, hopeful things will get back to normal by the third quarter of this year.

"The travel industry is not badly affected actually and the situation is still considered manageable. We hope the situation will recover by the third quarter of this year."

This year's targeted tourist arrivals for Sabah is 2.231 million, a reduction from last year's total arrival of 2.3 million.

Sabah currently has 107 direct international flights, including the latest to and from Shanghai in China, offering 70,000 seats.

Sari was speaking at a press conference held in conjunction with the launching of a joint tourism promotional campaign for Sabah and Sarawak through in-flight video of MASwings held at the STB office here Wednesday.

MASwings Regional Head for Sabah, Shauqi Ahmad, the aviation industry as a whole was also facing a similar predicament.

"The demand will peak again by the third quarter of the year and hopefully by then the global H1N1 scare would have already subsided. Most people are now holding back from travelling due to the H1N1 scare, but people will definitely not stop travelling for too long," he said.

MASwings carried about 400,000 passengers in the first six months of this year, of whom about 15 to 20 per cent were international visitors.

"MASwings is still able to maintain the number of passengers because we are concentrating on domestic travels," he said.