SARAWAK received 3.18 million visitors for the first 10 months of the year – up 131 per cent –compared to the same period in 2022.
Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the tourism receipts stood at RM8.07 billion, an increase of 143.81 per cent which contributed about 5.75 per cent to Sarawak’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“Looking at this encouraging trend, my ministry would like to revise visitor arrival in 2024 to 4 million, with an estimated RM9.76 billion in revenue,” he said when delivering his ministerial winding up speech in the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) today.
He said the ministry had previously projected 3 million visitor arrivals with RM7.6 billion in revenue in 2023.
He also said tourist arrivals into Malaysia in 2022 increased by 7,375 per cent to 10.07 million compared to the same corresponding period in 2021 generating tourism receipts of RM28.2 billion.
As of September 2023, 14.4 million international tourist arrivals into the country were recorded against the targeted 16.1 million for the year 2023, generating RM47.4 billion in tourism receipts.
On the Sarawak Malaysia My Second Home (S-MM2H), he said, the ministry has approved a total of 2,286 participants since 2007.
According to Karim, the top countries are from the United Kingdom (315), China (302), Taiwan (219), Hong Kong (216) and Singapore (175).
In line with Sarawak’s digitalisation drive under Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030), he said, his ministry introduced the online application on June 1 2023.
“As of November, we have received a total of 203 applications online.
“This will certainly revitalise the S-MM2H programme, restore, and attract ideal target groups into Sarawak and indirectly revive the state’s economic activity,” he added.
Apart from that, he said, his ministry allocated a total grant of RM38,732,462 to support 213 local and international events and festivals, as of October 2023.
The ministry has several iconic international events such as Rainforest Music Festival, AseanInternational Film Festival and Awards (AIFFA), Kuching Marathon 2023, The 9th Edition Sarawak International Dragon Boat Regatta, Sarawak International Festival of Music and Arts and the 11th Sibu International Bike Week 2023.
