Property Hunter Magazine Property Hunter Magazine Issue 51 - February 2014 | Page 37

JW Marriott and Hilton Soon Joining KK Hotel Scene CMS Subsidiary May Raise RM21 Million From Land Sale and Arif Enigma Sdn Bhd (20%). JW Marriot located on top of the completing Oceanus Waterfront Mall in Kota Kinabalu State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun hopes the emergence of new hotels this year and next will help solve the room shortage faced by the tourism sector in Sabah. He said while the influx of tourists has been an encouraging development, “unfortunately the continuous increase of tourists created a problem for us due to insufficient number of hotel rooms to accommodate all of them. “We hope more hotels will be built. I hope the JW Marriott will open this year. I was informed the KK Hilton will also be ready by the first quarter of next year,” he said. Commenting on the state government’s target of 3.4 million tourists visiting Sabah this year, Masidi said the Ministry would be revising the target from time to time. “For example, last year we targeted three million tourists but I believe we have surpassed that number. I would prefer to put a lower target in accordance with our capabilities. It is better to aim low and get a higher mark,” he said. Meanwhile, the Sabah Tourism contingent visited Japan last month in its bid to ensure the reestablished direct flight from Narita to KK would bring in more tourism receipts. “One of the reasons the route was cancelled by Malaysia Airlines a few years back was due to low passenger load. Therefore, we want to keep the route open by attracting more tourists from Japan. “Last year, the number of Japanese coming into the state rose by 26% despite no direct connection between Japan and KK. We hope with the reestablishment of the route, the number will continue to rise,” he said. Masidi also said last year there were 273 chartered flights from China to Sabah, the highest number in the country. The number did not include scheduled flights from five Chinese cities. The Sabah Tourism Board will also be part of the Ministry’s entourage to Berlin ITB in March. “We have been receiving good response from Europeans who would like to visit Sabah especially from countries with low temperature all year round,” he said. Deputy Chairman of Tourism Malaysia Senator Dato’ Maznah Mazlan said Sabah is one of the most important tourism destinations in the country. “We are confident that the industry will benefit not only the country’s GDP but also to Sabahans including those in the rural areas through programmes such as Inap Desa. Locals can also take advantage of the industry by becoming trained tourist guide ̳