KUALA LUMPUR - Recent kidnapping cases in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo have had more impact
on the tourism industry than the disappearance of the MH370 jetliner in
March.
Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz told Parliament on
Tuesday that a total of 76 flights to Kota Kinabalu from China were
cancelled recently.
"Which is why we need to ensure more is done to convince tourists
from China that 
Sabah is safe, but this is beyond my ministry's
capacity.
Sabah is safe, but this is beyond my ministry's
capacity.
"The Home Ministry must also do more to help increase the confidence of the people that Sabah is safe.
"They (Home Ministry) must walk to the talk to ensure no untoward
incidents happen again," said Nazri in reply to a supplementary question
by Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak).
- Azmin had asked if the kidnapping cases in Sabah caused a bigger impact to the tourism industry than the disappearance of MH370.
- Nazri said although the kidnappings occurred on the east coast of Sabah, they had an impact on the entire state.
- He said countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Germany have issued travel advisories to their nationals visiting Sabah.
- "I tried my best to ask these countries to retract the advisories but it is difficult based on the current situation," added Nazri.
Early Monday, a 32-year-old Malaysian fish farmer and his worker were
snatched from a fish farm in Kunak, 60km south of Lahad Datu, by gunmen
in a speedboat.
It was the third kidnapping in area in three months.
On April 2, a Chinese tourist and Filipino hotel worker were abducted from Singamata Reef Resort, near Semporna, by five gunmen.
They were released after weeks of quiet negotiations through Malaysian police intermediaries.
In May, a 34- year-old Chinese national Yang Zai Lin was abducted by
Filipino gunmen, close to the shores of Silam. There is still no word on
him.
On MH370, Nazri pointed out that were about 30,000 cancellations from
China tourists this year, adding the ministry also expected the number
of tourists from China, especially from Beijing, to drop further next
year.
He said to balance the loss of the Chinese tourist, short-term
measures such as increasing campaigns in other markets, have been
adopted by the ministry.
Nazri said the ministry has increased campaigning in countries such
as Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, India,
Bangladesh, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Australia and New Zealand.
He also said a crisis management committee was formed by Tourism Malaysia to tackle the China tourism market.
Source: Asia One
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