KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will proceed with promoting the state in conjunction with ‘Visit Malaysia Year 2014’, said Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun.
“For me the government has announced and declared 2014 as Visit Malaysia Year (VMY), so we will continue with our promotion but with some adjustments taking into consideration what had happened,” said Masidi when met by reporters after officiating the Sabah Tourist Guides Association (STGA) annual dinner on Sunday night.
He said this when asked if Sabah will be going ahead with its promotion after Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz’s announcement in the Dewan Rakyat that all roadshows and activities overseas in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2014 will be temporarily halted out of respect for the families of the passengers on board the missing Flight MH370.
Masidi in his reply added that what had happened must be taken as challenges in the tourism industry.
“We should not be disappointed that this has happened, maybe this incident is what we need to improve ourselves so that we are better prepared in the future,” he said.
To a question if tourist arrivals to Sabah had been negatively affected by the incident, Masidi said, “We have to bear in mind that most of the bookings are ‘forward booking’ which were made before the incident happened. As I said before, we will not be able to see the implication the incident has on the tourist arrival through the immediate statistics….maybe we will be able to see the results in two to three months’ time.
He added that a small panel to study the ramifications and implications of the MH370 case on the state’s tourism industry had been set up at Sabah Tourism Board.
“I hope that people will not interpret it in a negative way because we always try to be one step ahead of anything,” he said.
When asked if Sabah’s tourism sector is feeling the effect of China travellers’ boycott, Masidi stressed that it was too early to confirm that tourists from China were not travelling to Malaysia.
“We understand that many have lost their family members in the case and they are still emotional with what had happened which is why they are angry. However, it is too early to say that tourists from China boycott Malaysia.
“We must give them ample time and space to accept the fact and we will see after that. If needed we will adjust out strategy for this year but I am very confident that if there should be any negative effects, it would not prolong.
“We are living in a borderless world and people will have to travel so obviously for the time being when you are angry you may not want to travel but in the future people are going to become reasonable and accept the fact that there are things in our lives that we cannot control,” he said.