Sabah to host World Tourism Conference in November

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will play host to the World Tourism Conference (WTC 2022) this November.

WTC is an exclusive triennial event organised by Malaysia with the cooperation of United Nations agency World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

Some 700 international and domestic delegates are expected to attend the event, themed "Tourism Futures Reimagined", which will be held at the state capital from Nov 28 to Nov 30.

This includes Tourism Ministers, government senior officials, academicians and key leaders from the industry across the world, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister (Motac) Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

She relayed this during a courtesy call to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor at his office in Menara Kinabalu on Wednesday (July 27).

"This is the sixth installment of the event following the success of the five previous ones.

"The organisation of WTC 2022 will be done through strategic collaboration between Motac, Sabah government and Sabah Tourism Board.

"Since WTC was held in Kota Kinabalu over 12 years ago, choosing Sabah to host for the second time is a form of recognition of the commitment of the state government to drive the tourism sector here, until Sabah became a prime tourism destination in the world," said Nancy.

Hajiji said he hoped the international event will further accelerate the recovery of the tourism industry in this state, which was impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic.