Bangkuai (right), who was representing the Chief Minister, visiting one of the booths at the expo.
KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has given his backing to the development of Sabah’s rural tourism sector, heralded as a possible massive income contributor for the state.
The Chief Minister wants community-based tourism (COBT) to be aggressively developed due to its great potential to spur economic growth, particularly in the rural areas of Sabah.
He said a total of 224,356 tourists visited rural tourism destinations in the state last year, bringing in nearly RM8mil in tourism receipts.
"This only reflected figures from Kadamaian (in the Kota Belud district), Kiulu (Tuaran) and Tambunan,” he said at the launch of the Sabah COBT Expo at Suria Sabah mall here on Friday (Nov 17).
“I believe the figures could be higher and will continue to grow with a joint aggressive push in promoting rural tourism by all District Tourism Action Councils and district Tourism Associations throughout the state.
“The state Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry and Sabah Tourism Board (STB) can count on the full support of the state government to tap the full potential of COBT,” Hajiji added.
His speech was delivered by Tourism, Culture and Environment Assistant Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai.
Hajiji was pleased to note that despite still being in the recovery phase following the Covid-19 pandemic, several initiatives that the ministry and STB took have already borne fruits, especially in the COBT sector.
Tourism is one of the state's main pillars of economic growth under the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya development plan, he said.
Thus, the state will invest in infrastructure and skills development for rural community tourism.
"I want to see Sabah's rural community tourism be at par, if not better, with those in other countries.
He added the state would continue to back the efforts for Sabah's COBT to achieve 80% Asean standard compliance by 2030.
Hajiji said the three-day expo will serve as a transformation plan for Sabah's COBT, showcasing the rural community's strength, and offering tourists an authentic experience.
