KIULU: The picturesque rural town of Kiulu is popular for whitewater rafting and outdoor adventure activities.
Tourism Malaysia Sabah went there for a product update recently to prepare for the resumption of Sabah to welcome interstate travellers starting on Nov 1.
Its director Mohd Faharuddin Hatmin said Kiulu is perfect for adventure and nature seekers to experience the combination of eco-adventure tourism.
For visitors arriving from Peninsular Malaysia, he said Kiulu was not too far, about 53km or 1-hour drive from Kota Kinabalu International Airport, and easily accessible by road.
There are over 50 products to explore in Kiulu including whitewater rafting and campsite activities where Traverse Tours Sdn Bhd hosted a day trip for Faharuddin and his staff to sample.
In Sabah, he said the Kiulu River is one of the popular spots for whitewater rafting, which is graded one and two (basic level) and ideal for a family with young children.
"If the tourists want to stay longer, they can put up a night here, as this place has enough accommodations to cater for visitors.
"The next day, they can indulge in the recreational activities at the campsite such as zipline, wall climbing and barbecuing, among others," he said.
In terms of the market segment, he said the wide range of products available in Kiulu was suitable for young adults and families.
"We are very confident Sabah can attract more visitors to Kiulu and other destinations during the post-Covid-19 pandemic, as the people are keen to travel," he said.
"Kiulu is not only blessed with a refreshing river and natural beauty but also have many jungle trails awaiting the avid hikers," said Faharuddin.
Kiulu also held the Malaysian Book of Records for having the number of suspension bridges in Malaysia, nearly 300 in total.
Traverse Tours operation manager Norita Yapi said they reopened to visitors on Oct 15 following the announcement by the Sabah government to allow inter-district travel to resume a day earlier.
Traverse specialising in whitewater rafting is also the tour operator of Mari Mari cultural village that promotes Sabah major ethnics and Sepanggar Island for relaxation away from the hustle-and-bustle of the city.
"However, we are not operating full time yet. For the time being, we are only open to visitors during weekends because of limited workers.
"We notice everyone is very excited to travel again because every weekend the bookings are full. We are also receiving bookings from the peninsula who are coming next month," she said.
After the long confinement, she said the people need some bonding time because they are too stressed to work from home during the movement control order (MCO).
"Now everyone wants to go for an excursion, at the moment we are recalling our laid-off workers in stages.
"During the MCO, we have released a lot of workers for them to find a job elsewhere to continue surviving because we don't know how long this lockdown would be lifted," she said.
For Norita who had been with the company for 20 years starting as an intern student, during the lockdown, she helped friends to promote and market their home-cooked meals online.
"Some staff made cookies and sambal. We do whatever we know to generate income to pay our monthly commitments.
"Some of them do Grab, some become part-time funeral van drivers. The hardest situation was when the company had to sell off seven vans to pay utility bills and staff salaries," she said.
To keep the staff spirit alive during the lockdowns, she said the ground floor of the company premises was converted into a café to sell food to office workers nearby.
Despite being badly affected by the pandemic, she said most of the workers were still very enthusiastic and believe the tourism industry will rebound.