Sarawak should get closer with its eastern neighbour — Talip

MIRI: Sarawak should get closer with its eastern neigbhour, the Philippines, and build better connectivity to boost the local tourism industry.

Assistant Minister of Tourism Datuk Talip Zulpilip believed that better connectivity, better schedule and better service, would make a complete tourism package, thus helping the tourism industry in Sarawak to grow.

“The closer we get with our neighbour, the more we keep in touch with them to let Sarawak tourism grow,” he told a press conference at Miri Airport here yesterday.

Earlier, Talip welcomed 114 passengers from AirAsia’s inaugural flight from Manila to Miri which touched down at 4.45pm.

Also present were Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Datuk Rashid Khan, AirAsia chief executive officer Aireen Omar, AirAsia Zest executive vice president Joy Caneba, Assistant Minister of Communication Datuk Lee Kim Shin and Miri mayor Lawrence Lai.

In her welcoming speech, Aireen said she was proud of AirAsia’s success in bringing the Philippines and Malaysia closer through the introduction of the new (air) route.

“We always do our best to contribute to the people in East Malaysia, especially the development of its economy, tourism and other sectors,” she said.

AiAsia mounts 412 flights a week to Sarawak and 330 return flights a week to Sabah from Peninsular Malaysia.

As a group, the airline operated over 1,000 return flights a week to East Malaysia and 532 return flights weekly to Sarawak, an amazing statistic for a 12-year-old airline.

“As for Miri, we are proud to have carried more than 420,000 passenger arrivals up till last month; having flown in from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Singapore.”

With the new Manila-Miri route, AirAsia Zest hoped to boost arrivals to Miri and help the city grow in terms of business opportunities, tourism activities and providing the local community with enhanced connectivity and more options of travel destinations.

AirAsia Zest is the first airline to operate the Manila-Miri route, marking it as the second international route to Miri, after Singapore in 2009.

Sarawak should get closer with its eastern neighbour — Talip