KOTA KINABALU: Travel advisories will be fairer and balanced if verification is made with the Malaysian authorities, said Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) inbound vice president Datuk Tan Kok Liang.
He was referring to British Foreign and Commonwealth Office which had recently raised the terrorism threat level for the islands off Sabah from “general” to “high” based on high-profile kidnapping in May last year.
Tan added crime and terrorism were global issue and not exclusive to Sabah.
“Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun believes Sabah’s east coast is safe with sea curfew in place and round-the-clock surveillance.
“The fact that all the island resorts are packed with tourists is a clear indication of tourists’ confidence in security situation in the east coast of Sabah,” he said in a statement.
Tan also added Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) Commander Datuk Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid, who was on the ground, had also confirmed there had not been any untoward incidents and tourists were still visiting popular tourist spots.
He also offered to host those issuing negative travel advisories for them to better understand the actual situation in Sabah.