KUCHING: The latest tourism numbers show that Sarawak's tourism industry has bounced back better than expected from before the pandemic.

However, Sarawak's Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Hamzah, said the positive trend could be tampered by the flare up in hostilities in the Middle East.

"We could be hit," he said in reference to the increased tension in the region after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles in retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike on Tehran's consulate in Damascus on April 1.

Karim said any hostilities could disrupt air travels between Europe and Sarawak.

The latest statistics showed the number of tourists from Europe coming to the state had increased dramatically.

He said with airlines having to reroute to flying in safer air spaces, it could mean the planes' fuel burn could be higher and that would translate to higher air ticket cost.

The statistics for the first three months of this year showed the state had registered 1,189,718 visitor arrivals,up by 106.43 per cent when compared to the corresponding period in 2019.

Up to March that year, the number of visitors was 1,117,843.

Karim said in the month of March, the numbers were still positive and on the uptrend with 438,950 coming to the state for their holidays compared to 420,021 in March of 2019.

That, he pointed out, was an increase of 104.51 per cent.

He said up to March this year, 735,074 foreign tourists had holidayed in the state compared to only 480,282 in the same period in 2019.

That, Karim said, was an increase of 153.05 per cent.

However, the numbers of domestic tourists had not reached the pre-pandemic level with only 454,644 coming over between January and March, compared to 637,561 in the same period in 2019.

With more tourists coming, their spending had also seen the state's tourism receipts jump by 111.23 per cent.

In the first three months of this year, tourists spent RM3.07 billion compared to the RM2.76 billion over the same period in 2019.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/04/1039586/sarawak-tourism-has-bounced-back-better-pre-covid-19-level-says-state