KOTA KINABALU: Nine states and two Federal Territories record hikes in hotel guests in the first three months of this year.
The five top states were Kuala Lumpur, Pahang, Johor, Sabah and Penang.
Overall, during the period the number of hotel guests were recorded to have increased by 0.18 per cent -18.33 million during the first three months of this year compared to 18.30 million compared to the same period last year.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said that the surge was the result of efforts by the government and agencies involved including the private sector in promoting tourism products nationwide.
He said it was an indicator that the tourism sector was now on the right track and the hike was prompted by continuous promotion efforts abroad and the work of local (tourism) industry activists to promote national tourism products.
“The increase recorded was not only contributed by domestic but also foreign tourists,’’ he said after a courtesy call on Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal at his office here today.
During the meeting, Mohamaddin and Mohd Shafie shared ideas on tourism promotion plans in Sabah and the rest of the country.
Mohamaddin said that if measured from the hotel guests’ data in the first quarter of this year, Sabah had indicated a good performance with a 0.9 increase compared to last year.
He said that Sabah recorded 1.71 million tourists in the first quarter of this year compared to 1.68 million during the same period last year.
His ministry would identify new products which could be highlighted to help in increasing tourists that did not focus on hotel service but the tourism sector as a whole.
On the drop in hotel guests in several states, he said that the figures were expected to go up in the second quarter. - Bernama