Liew (second right) receiving a Xiamen Airlines’ Boeing 787-9 plane model from Gao. Looking on are Tay (right) and Li (left). KOTA KINABALU (May 31): China has overtaken South Korea as the largest source of international arrivals to Sabah for the first four months of this year (January-April, 2024), said Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew.
Based on statistics from the Sabah Tourism Board’s (STB) Research Division, she said of the total of 396,584 international arrivals for the said period, 135,855 visitors were from China, registering an increase of 1489.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2023. She disclosed this during a courtesy call by the general manager of Xiamen Airlines, Kuala Lumpur Office, Gao Ya Shuang, and its sales manager Li Changzhao on Wednesday.
Gao briefed the minister on Xiamen Airlines’ plans to resume scheduled flights from Fuzhou (capital of Fujian Province) to Kota Kinabalu from June 27. Welcoming the duo to Sabah, Liew said a further surge in international arrivals from China is foreseeable for the rest of the year after June. “I understand that Fuzhou is one of the main bases of Xiamen Airlines, and from here, one can travel to major cities in all provinces in China.
“Kota Kinabalu is one of its many international destinations. This Fuzhou-Kota Kinabalu route is yet another avenue to bring visitors from China to Sabah, and I am confident that it will be a sustainable route,” she said. Gao recalled that .