DOMESTIC tourists are reported to be trickling back to Sarawak .

The state’s Tourism, Creative Industry & Performing Arts Minister Abdul Karim Hamzah said tourist arrivals for December showed a 500% jump compared to the corresponding month in 2020.

“Things are getting better. People are coming in. They might not be international visitors but West Malaysians and Sabahans are coming in,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Despite the sharp jump, the state’s industry players are guarded about the quick revival of a sector they had described as “the first to sink and the last to float”  in the pandemic that had dealt a knockout blow to many businesses.

Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) president Audrey Wan Ullok, , summed up the industry’s mood when she told The Malaysian Insight “we are cautiously optimistic” as they cast their gaze on the havoc wreaked by the Omicron variant of Covid-19 across the globe.

The STF is the umbrella organisation for the state’s tour and travel industry.

The owner of a Kuching budget hotel said though entry restrictions have been lifted or eased, the industry is still worried about the Omicron-driven resurgence of Covid-19 cases in Europe.

“Europe is our traditional market,” she said.

“Easing of entry restrictions has been welcomed but having said that, it is still a very fluid situation.”

She said the state’s Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Ministry is working on establishing a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) between Sarawak and Singapore.

Nonetheless, with no sign of foreigners arriving anytime soon, Ullok said the industry would have to focus on the “short term, domestic arrivals from West Malaysia – locals and the expatriates based there – for the time being”.

Ullok said she does not expect European long haul travellers this year.

Last week, as part of the state’s marketing drive on the peninsula, the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) rolled out its signature Sia Sitok Sarawak tour programme in Kuala Lumpur.

The Sia Sitok Sarawak Plus interstate travel campaign is to give West Malaysians the opportunity to visit Sarawak through its main tourism gateways of Kuching, Sibu and Miri, with Malaysia Airlines as the official airline.

The Sia Sitok Sarawak programme started off as a programme to promote intrastate domestic tourism among Sarawak residents.

Under the programme’s versions 1 and 2 packages in 2020 and 2021, Sarawak folk and foreign residents in the state pay half-price for travel packages.

STB picked up the tab for the other half of the price.

Later the Sia Sitok Accommodation was introduced to promote hotels in the state with STB subsidising 35% of the prices.

Sia Sitok Sarawak Plus launched on Wednesday in collaboration with MAS does not offer discounts to the West Malaysian tourists.

The programme is instead targeted at Sarawak handling agents.

“Sarawak agents will be incentivised by STB if they handle a certain volume of tours,” Ullok explained.

“This incentive is called the VIP for Visitors Incentive Programme. Any ground handler who is registered with Matta and STF can participate in this programme.”

Sia Sitok Sarawak Plus offers about 50 packages. Sia Sitok version 3 will be launched in March. – January 24, 2022.