KUCHING: Be optimistic that the tourism sector will recover soon. This is the message of Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
to the ministry and members of the local tourism industry.
He anticipated that the tourism sector would be on the rebound soon because of the ongoing vaccination exercise in the state.
“Hopefully, the ongoing vaccination exercise will facilitate the rate of recovery,” he said in a statement today (March 9).
Karim said the state’s tourism industry players must make the necessary preparations as soon as the Covid-19 situation improved.
“Once the inter-district crossings are allowed, local folk in the state will start travelling to other districts and this will help to boost the tourism sector again.
“Also, there are many proactive measures that have been undertaken by the federal and state governments with the aim of stimulating the economy,” he added.
Karim, who is also Minister of Youth and Sports, advised the people to comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) whenever they travelled to other places.
He thanked the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) for assisting the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) to restore the country’s tourism industry.
“KKMM Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah disclosed his ministry had offered its assistance to Motac in promoting places of interest through broadcasts by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama).
“We welcome the offer made by KKMM which also include giving slots for short videos and documentaries to be aired on RTM channels and to be featured by Bernama and also the Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (Finas),” he said.
Karim added that KKMM was also urging private companies to apply for grants through the Malaysian Creative Industry Stimulus Package (Prisma) to produce promotional videos which highlighted places for local and foreign tourists.
