Sarawak will continue to solidify its position as the preferred destination for Business Events, or Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) leveraging world-class infrastructure and its unique cultural heritage to attract high-impact international business events.
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the state has pioneered a shift in the MICE industry by moving the focus from “tourist dollars” to “legacy impacts” that ensure meetings leave long term benefits to the community.
“Taking advantage of our strengths in eco-tourism, culture and heritage, as well as infrastructures to support business events and festivals, Sarawak can attract niche and premium markets. While some major global tourist attractions in Europe raised concern on overtourism, Sarawak must prioritise strategies to attract premium and high-spending visitors,” he said.
He said this in his ministerial winding up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today (May 19).
Touching on strategies to boost domestic tourism, Abdul Karim said the trend shows that visitor arrivals from Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah have continued to increase and contributed significantly to Sarawak’s tourism industry, with 1.9 million in 2024 and 2.17 million arrivals respectively in 2025.
Through the “Sia Sitok Sarawak 5.0” campaign, he said the ministry is reviving and expanding its domestic travel campaigns to encourage locals and visitors from Sabah, Labuan, and Peninsular Malaysia to explore Sarawak.
“The global uncertainty typically shifts travel preferences toward domestic and short-haul trips. In alignment with the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2026–2030, Sarawak is pushing for deeper integration with its neighbors.
“Hence, Sarawak is focusing on regional tourism markets especially ASEAN, while at the same time continuing to expand our promotion in China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and India. The Gateway to Borneo Campaign which Sarawak has embarked on, would play significant input in our marketing effort,” he said.
At the same time, Abdul Karim said Sarawak is diversifying into various segments including health tourism and edu-tourism.
He said these sectors are increasingly becoming important as the state recorded more than 104,000 medical travelers in 2025, a significant increase of 26.16 percent from 2024.
“This reflects growing confidence in Sarawak’s healthcare ecosystem and Indonesia remains our main source market for this sector.
“In addition, edu-tourism is another strategic sector that Sarawak potentially focuses on. Based on the statistics of approved student pass, the number of students from outside Sarawak studying in local higher learning institutions has shown an increase from 2,183 in 2024 to 2,295 in 2025,” he said.
