SUCCESSFUL B2B EVENT MARKS KAZAKHSTAN TRAVEL AGENTS’ VISIT TO SABAH

Kota Kinabalu, June 26, 2024 – Sabah welcomed a delegation of 13 travel agents from Kazakhstan yesterday for a familiarization tour. Sabah Tourism Board (STB), AirAsia, Hilton Hotel, and various tourism associations in Kota Kinabalu jointly hosted the familiarization tour from June 25 to June 27, 2024. This visit marked a significant milestone in STB’s efforts to expand its reach into Central Asia.

Kota Kinabalu International Airport, the second busiest airport in Malaysia, plays a crucial role in connecting Sabah to the world, with 245 weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu. AirAsia’s four weekly flights between Almaty and Kuala Lumpur on the Airbus 330, with a capacity of 285 seats, complement the 79 weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, enhancing accessibility for Kazakhstani travellers.

Central Asia is a new market for Sabah Tourism Board. Efforts to tap into this potential began with a successful Sabah roadshow in Uzbekistan in April 2024. The promotion of Sabah in Kazakhstan, facilitated by AirAsia, was expected to further boost STB’s presence in Central Asia.

A key highlight of the visit was the Business-to-Business session conducted on the day of the delegates’ arrival. The session provided an excellent platform for networking, business discussions and laid the groundwork for future collaborations. The B2B session brought together the 13 agents from Kazakhstan and 20 Sabah tourism players from the various tourism associations in Sabah.

STB expressed confidence that with the dedicated support of their partners and the aggressive promotion of Sabah, there would be an increase in tourist traffic from Kazakhstan to Sabah via Kuala Lumpur. With consistent growth in indirect traffic to Sabah from Central Asia, STB hoped that AirAsia would consider the feasibility of a direct flight from Almaty to Kota Kinabalu in the near future.