KOTA KINABALU: Kinabatangan, a hotspot of Sabah wildlife, wants to entice domestic tourists to kick-start interstate travelling starting from tomorrow while waiting for the country's international borders to reopen.
Kinabatangan Corridor of Life Tourism Operators Association (KiTA) president Alexander Yee said Kinabatangan will get limited travellers as it is traditionally a market geared for international visitors.
"So it's really depending on the promotional packages offered and the appetite for the locals to visit us.
"Individual lodges will do their own promotion. In fact, KiTA member lodges will attend the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Fair on Nov 20-21, Kuala Lumpur to promote their lodges," said Alexander.
Since Kinabatangan is largely a foreign market, he said to woo the domestic travellers will depend on the promotion that they offer since the distant to Kinabatangan makes operating a tourism lodge expensive.
"We have also produced a new promotional video, including the vaccination notice. This will ensure that our tourism attractions are showcased in the video.
Besides that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) will also be expounded on so that no one forget.
"We are adhering to the Health Ministry SOPs that required all visitors to be fully vaccinated, maintain physical distancing and wear masks at all time.
"For the carrying capacity (of the lodges), we will follow whatever set by the Health Ministry and we will change accordingly (to instruction)," said Alexandar.
All the operators under KiTA are ready to welcome visitors and all their staff had completed the vaccine doses since three months ago, he said.
Visitors to Kinabatangan, which is the second longest river in Malaysia, will get a glimpse of the wildlife such as orang utan, proboscis monkey, pygmy elephant, Bornean gibbons and others.
During the lockdown, he said most of the workers in Kinabatangan find their own work to keep themselves occupied while waiting for the resumption of tourism activities.