Kissing incident mars Sabah's tourism reputation, says Liew

KOTA KINABALU: The incident of a freelance divemaster kissing a tourist is a dent to Sabah's tourism image as the industry begins to recover from the pandemic, says Datuk Christina Liew (pic).

"Incidents like this greatly affect the image of tourism in the Semporna district in particular, and Sabah in general, even more so as the tourism industry is recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic," said the state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister in a statement Monday (May 8).

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Liew said that it was a "regrettable" incident and wanted all tourism players to be responsible in protecting the image of the industry.

"I call on all travel agents in this state to play a role in providing quality service.

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"They must be responsible to ensure incidents like this will not happen again," she said.

However, Liew noted that the incident occurred outside the area of Sipadan Island Park and Tun Sakaran Marine Park that was under the management of Sabah Parks.

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Liew was responding to a police report lodged by a 24-year-old tourist from China who alleged that a 27-year-old local divemaster kissed her on the cheek underwater during a diving session on May 5.

She lodged a report on the incident the next day before returning to China.

The man was arrested on May 7 and subsequently remanded till May 11.