PRESS STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN OF SABAH TOURISM BOARD

Greetings from sunny Sabah, Malaysian Borneo!

We appreciate your Government's concern for the safety of Australian citizens abroad. We also know that the Australian Government has issued similar travel warnings to other destinations around the world, including the UK, USA, Singapore, Thailand and Bali. Sabah is a safe destination to travel to and we wish to assure that the Malaysian Government takes security issue very seriously and will continue to ensure that all Malaysians and visitors alike are safe in the country.

The first few months have seen many distinguished guests and groups coming to Sabah for their holidays and also business trips. There were over 500 conventions, incentives, and events (CIE) in Sabah, last year. Last month we had a BBC crew filming on our Survivor island, Pulau Tiga and a Japanese film celebrity just completed a one week shooting in Kota Kinabalu. A delegation of Australian business group from Rockingham Perth visited Sabah in early February. Taiwanese incentive groups are arriving by the hundreds. Koreans and Japanese continue to throng our championship golf courses, spas and beaches. Backpackers and adventure enthusiasts continue to arrive to scale the highest mountain in Malaysia, Mt. Kinabalu.

The Diving industry in Sabah has been thriving and growing steadily annually with divers from all over the world continue to visit the many beautiful and magnificent marine life in the surrounding waters of Sipadan Island, Mabul, Mataking, Kapalai and Lankayan - all on the east coast, Mantanani, Layang Layang Atoll, Pulau Tiga, and Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park of the west coast. The PADI Course Director Training Course, which is the highest achievable level of training within PADI, was just completed and this is held in Sabah for the 8th year consecutively. This alone testifies that Sabah's east coast is a safe place to visit and dive.

This month, saw Australian historian and writer Lynette Silver in Sabah, lead a media team from Canada, Australian Channel Nine and journalists from the Bulletin to document and trek the jungle at Bauto to Ranau, a most difficult terrain in the Sandakan Ranau Death March.

I am also pleased to say that Sabah has over 40% repeat visitors and a 25% compound growth in arrivals for the last five years. The Hotels and Resorts in Sabah recorded the highest occupancy rate in the country of about 80%.

We look forward to welcoming you to The Land Below The Wind - Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.