SECOND TIME WIN FOR SABAH TOURISM BOARD

KOTA KINABALU: This year, the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) received the Silver award at the Putra Aria Brand Awards 2023 in the Transportation, Travel and Tourism category. STB was also awarded the Bronze in this category for 2022.

Introduced in 2022 by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As), the Aria Brand Awards, often dubbed the People’s Choice Awards, aim to acknowledge brands with a significant connection to Malaysians.

Putra Brand Awards 2023 Organising Chairman Datuk Johnny Mun described the accolades as ‘money cannot buy’ awards, and that these are chosen by the people via online research survey results. The winners are determined through a survey involving 11,000 respondents over an 8-week period from September to October 2023.

“I am proud of Sabah Tourism Board for not just winning the award, but also being awarded a higher tier from the previous year. It’s an achievement on the part of the Board,” Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew said.

According to her, Sabah has also succeeded in surpassing the targeted number of arrivals set at 2.2 million for 2023.

“Last year, we recorded some 2.6 million tourist arrivals (based on statistics released by the Board’s Research Division). This positive track record must continue. This year, we are targeting 2.8 million arrivals.

“Besides reinstating flights and developing new possible flight routes, I once again would like to emphasise that the development of quality tourism products and services is a must to ensure our visitors have a memorable experience,” Liew added.