KUCHING: Sarawak is fortunate to have high levels of tolerance among its people which enables the state to prosper in various sectors including tourism.
Tourism, Creative Industry, and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that tolerance and acceptance makes it very easy for Sarawak to home grow its tourism products.
“We are blessed to be in Sarawak where we do not have any extremism as we tolerate and accept.“These are the words of foreign ambassadors who came to the state and they were surprised because they know that in other parts of Malaysia if you were going to organise events like the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF), there will be many comments.
“Moreover, we are very blessed that we have so many ethnic groups where each and every one of them have their own cultures and traditions which are good tourism products.
“Nowadays when people travel, it is not just for shopping because they want to see nature like our beaches and jungles as well as how our people live.”
He said this during a press conference on the Queen Tribute Concert (QTC) at Waterfront Hotel on Tuesday (June 28).
Abdul Karim who is also the Minister of Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneur Development said the wide variety of food that Sarawak has to offer visitors is also one of the state’s tourism products.
He pointed out there are so many that the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognised Kuching as a city of gastronomy.
“As such, we need to polish each one of the tourism products so that we can further attract visitors. At the same time, Sarawakians must also appreciate the visitors who are coming in,” he added.
On whether the tourism sector would be affected by the increase in the price of goods, Abdul Karim said it is inevitable however the people must remain resilient.
He said the government will definitely be there to assist the people as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The increase in the price of goods is not only happening in Sarawak, it will have an impact on our wallet. We must be resilient along the way and be prepared as well as try to control our spending.
“I believe in comparison to other states, we are lucky that Sarawak is financially stable. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) 1.0 to 8.0,” he said.
