KUCHING: Sarawak’s tourism sector regained momentum in August with 439,968 visitor arrivals, an increase of 6.53 per cent from 413,018 in the corresponding month last year.
Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the improvement followed a slight dip in July.
“For August, we saw a slight increase, supported by the programmes being organised,” he said when met after officiating at the Sarawak Museum Department Appreciation Dinner at Pullman Hotel here on Sunday (Sept 20).
International arrivals also increased by 12.6 per cent to 275,800 from 244,903 in August last year.
The stronger performance lifted tourism receipts to RM1.137 billion during the month, compared with RM1.059 billion previously.
For the first eight months of this year, Sarawak recorded 3,160,448 visitor arrivals, a marginal decline of 1.41 per cent from 3,205,519 in the same period last year.
Abdul Karim remained confident that arrivals would pick up towards the end of the year as more tourism programmes and events were scheduled.
Although the five-million target could prove difficult to reach, he expected Sarawak to close the year with more than four million visitors.
“I am not too worried because there are usually many programmes from the middle towards the end of the year.
“We may not reach five million, but I expect the figure to remain above four million,” he said.
He acknowledged that the haze could affect leisure tourism, as some prospective visitors may reconsider or postpone their travel plans.
Medical tourism, however, was expected to remain resilient as patients travelled primarily to seek treatment, although Abdul Karim said he did not have the latest figures.
“If people are sick, whether there is haze or not, they will still look for a good hospital, so I believe that segment remains intact,” he said.
