Why Sabah?

Sabah gives a complete and exotic Bornean experience, from diverse natural offerings such as mountains, islands, beaches, wildlife to warm and hospitable people from various background. It’s a combination of fun, adventure and total relaxation in one of the most exciting island State in Malaysia.

16 international cities have regular connectivity to the State capital, Kota Kinabalu. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul and business hubs are within short (three to six hours) direct flight and there are easy connection to other long haul destinations.

As a young state, there is little history for Sabah which depended on the timber industry in the past. A redirection of policies has regulated that, enabling nature-based tourism to rise as one of the top income earners for the government - the benefits that are seen today.

Product offerings spans from the West to the East Coast, from the highlands to underwater, giving the celebrated tagline, ‘eco-treasures from mountain top to ocean deep’.  The top 3 mountains of Malaysia are all found in Sabah, along with strange and unusual wildlife, some unique to Sabah – attracting scientific researchers and volunteers.

Underwater, diving makes a lucrative industry for Sabah for the past 30 years. Scuba diving organization PADI, has returned to Sabah for almost two decades straight to train their top directors in Sabah’s East Coast.

Amidst its rustic setting, Sabah is now gearing to be the upcoming MICE player in the region. The new Sabah International Convention Centre, due to open in late 2018 or early 2019, is expected to change the face of the industry as well as the overall economy.

Stakeholders joining hands

Travel and hospitality industry in Sabah is led by the state agency, Sabah Tourism Board, under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment. The Board is the tourism marketing arm for the State together with other sister agencies such as the Wildlife Department, Sabah Parks, Environment, Culture and Museum together with tourism private sectors and Federal agencies.

As an initiative to make information about MICE in Sabah available and ready for the public, a website containing relevant MICE materials has been created by Sabah Tourism Board. To visit click here, be.sabahtourism.com 

Combined with other related stakeholders such as councils and enforcement agencies, the MICE business in Sabah benefits from an all working group that ensures the business runs smoothly and to conventional standards.

Special arrangements are given to conference organizers and delegates coming to Sabah such as ease and assistance at immigration and customs counters at point of entries, a welcome garlanding and complimentary cultural shows. Private sectors provide themed dinners, pre and post excursions for delegates and other services.

The industry is anticipating the development of the new Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) in late 2018 or early 2019 in Kota Kinabalu and the setting up of a convention bureau to drive the MICE market for Sabah. The experienced stakeholders are expected play their respective roles and compliment the bureau fittingly well.

New Sabah International Convention Centre

Sabah will be a full-fledged MICE destination with the completion of the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) which is expected to be operational by late 2018 or early 2019. 

The 15-acre 5-level SICC, backed by the Government, would be Sabah's main venue for MICE boasting a spacious 1,400 square metre designer lobby (enough to fit 150 cars) and major facilities namely the Exhibition Hall (dividable to 2-3 smaller halls), high ceiling Multipurpose Convention Hall, Meeting Facilities, Performing Arts Hall to fit 1,200 seats and sea-fronting dining areas. When fully operational, the SICC is able to accommodate up to 5,000 delegates.

Built fronting the South China Sea and nearby islands, the Kota Kinabalu Convention City adjacent to the SICC, main components include a luxury hotel, a business hotel, hotel suits, office towers, shops, offices, lifestyle retails, food and beverage outlets as well as serviced residences. This new development is expected to fully utilize its sea fronting features and will be a new extension to the Kota Kinabalu CBD area. 

SICC is located 8km away from the Kota Kinabalu International Airport and about 15 minutes away by boat to the islands and a view of its world famous sunsets. Other attractions include Kinabalu National Park which is about 1.5 hours by road. Kota Kinabalu in Sabah is Malaysia's premier resort State with direct flight access to sixteen major cities including Perth and other cities in the Asia Pacific.

A calendar full of
events and festivals in Sabah

There are more than 250 events lined up all year round in Sabah from cultural festivals, to musical, to sporting events on mountain, land and sea.

For the adrenaline seekers, sporting and adventure events are mushrooming around Sabah attracting those with a competitive edge, a taste of Sabahan thrill. Race courses are designed to award participants with beautiful raw views that can’t be seen from sitting inside of a tour bus. Every year up to a thousand would participate in the signature event, the Climbathon, up Mt Kinabalu to ultra-running events covering 250km in distance over seven days such as the Borneo Death March, mountain bike races as well as 4WD expeditions and many more.

Of course, there are milder activities to do. Sabah is an emerging bird watching destination for the Asia Pacific region. Out of 688 resident and migratory species that flock into Sabah, 54 are endemic to Borneo. The Bornean Bristlehead, according to avid birders is a rare and elusive species and only found in lowland forest of Borneo. Its black and fiery red and bright yellow head is highly recognizable but yet, difficult to spot in the wild. Every year at the Borneo Bird Festival, keen birders look forward to spot it.

In 2018, there will be a 100 year celebration for Sabah Tourism Building on March 16. The STB building was one of the buildings that were fortunate enough not to be destroyed during the Second World War. It is now one of the only three buildings in Kota Kinabalu gazetted for conversation and heritage.

Large Incentive Group 
from China

The arrival of the biggest incentive group from shows that Sabah is ready to stage large scale events, Sabah Tourism Board (STB) said. The 3,500 delegates from JM Top Achievers China arrived Sabah within three days were spread out to eleven hotels around the city.

According to STB, this year's forecast shows a potential average of 33,000 arrivals from China monthly. 

The last six months, new and additional flights from Wuhan, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Fuzhou brought to a total of 79 flights from China weekly. 

"Sabah is embarking into serious conference business with the completion of the Sabah International Convention Centre soon. An estimated RM31.8 million economic impact is expected to flow into tourism in Sabah," said Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah. 

Sabah Air Accessibility

Air accessibility into Sabah is easy.

Presently Sabah enjoys almost 100 direct international flights that connects the State to major airports in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul (Korea), Hong Kong and Shenzhen (China), Singapore, Jakarta (Indonesia) and Taipei (Taiwan), Clark and Manila (Philippines) and Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei).