Kota Kinabalu: Interest in Sabah's many attractions among Peninsular Malaysians saw travel agents make RM2 million revenue – the highest – at the two-day Matta Fair in Kuala Lumpur which ended Sunday.

Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) Vice President (Inbound) Datuk KL Tan said many from the peninsula were charmed and attracted by Sabah and were hunting for Sabah tour packages during the event at Putra World Trade Centre. "Domestic travel is the current trend now, where many take into consideration the weak Ringgit and travel to destinations more affordable to them.

"Sabah has its own charm and attractions that could woo many West Malaysians," he said.

Sabah was offered in a variety of packages by agents at the event held from Sept 2 to 4, starting from five days and four nights to three days and two nights.

Of the hot picks, Tan pointed out Mount Kinabalu was a hot seller and many wanted to experience Kundasang and Desa Farm which is very "much like New Zealand".

The fair drew a large crowd over the weekend with many also seeking packages in Johor Baru.

They claimed there were many places in the country they wanted to visit.

Meanwhile, the signs are that Sabah's tourism industry is back on its feet after languishing in the doldrums since 2014 following the twin MAS aircraft disasters, Lahad Datu intrusions and cross-border kidnaps.

Figures show that for the first six months this year, compared to the corresponding period last year, there is a 50 per cent increase in China tourists mostly from six coastal cities over there.

Now with the introduction of a new extended holiday package of 8 days and 7 nights stay to the inner cities of China, some one million new arrivals are expected via 200 chartered flight rotations of two per week.

This excludes those who booked on scheduled AirAsia or other flights.

Sabah Association of Tours and Travel Chairman, Dato Seri Winston Liaw said this at a welcoming dinner hosted by Labuan Chinese Chamber of Commerce Chairman Datuk Wong Kii Yii. Also present were Senator Datuk Hj Yunus Kurus, Deputy CEO of LC Haji Rithuan Hj Ismail, Chairman of Labuan Advisory Council, Datuk Basir Hj Alias, Vinson Embaran, Director of Tourism Ministry Department, here and others.

Attributing the "rebirth" of the tourism industry to the strong support of the State Government and the Tourism Ministry, he said "the chamber had approached us at the right time to seek a spill-over of China tourists to Labuan on a three-day stay. "We will include this bonus trip to the tourists in our new package and there had also been requests from tour operators in China for an extended stay of 8 days and 7 nights from the present 6 days and 3 nights."

He said the arrival of China tourists is largely due to the policy of China companies to reward their employees with free holiday travel very year.

"The previous choice were Thailand and Indonesia but now Sabah stands equal."

Asked when Satta would get is first arrival of China tourists on its new package, Liaw said the peak travel season was June to August and this was almost over and there is a season on October first due to National Day and called the golden season there.

He added that marketing the new package which includes Labuan had begun and the results would be seen in the next few months.

The good news was that before China tourists had not heard of Sabah but now they also heard of Labuan due to aggressive marketing and good reports about the island by tour operators who had been here on familiarisation visits.

"Many feel that the isolated Rusukan Besar Island can rival the beast beaches in the region and those who visited the island were fascinated with the scene and sea water. They were excited about swimming and diving, tourists from inner cities of China have not seen the beach before and such sights excited them to the extent of even tasting the water," said Liaw.

He said Labuan also had other plus aspects such as duty-free shopping and the hotel rates are cheaper than KK. Liaw said another noteworthy point was that Semporna, the favourite of tour operators, was now becoming over-crowded and rooms had to be booked months in advance. He noted that the boom in the tourism industry had also ushered in a new problem – lack of aircraft available for charter.

Most of the airlines had committed their aircraft.

To ease this problem, Airworld Travel, a KK based company, is working with a China partner to directly charter two aircraft to handle the increased air traffic.

Liaw was here with more than 30 members of Satta on a two-day familiarisation trip to the island at the invitation of Wong.

Presently there are also China tourists coming to Labuan either via Brunei or Kota Kinabalu but for over-night stay.

The original plan was to bring thousands of China tourists via direct chartered flights to Labuan.

But the plan was hampered due to approvals needed by various authorities for the flight to Labuan since Labuan is classified as a military airport.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Zahid is seriously looking into the matter and is in the final step of getting approval from DCA and Ministry of Transport.