12.3.

4 Promotional Tools

Programs of Meetings, Initiatives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE)

The state government encourages all associations as well as the private sector to implement
programs in the form of meetings, initiatives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) to attract
tourists. The MICE program is one of the state government's efforts to encourage associations
or private parties that are seen as among the sectors that can empower the tourism industry.
Through this field, it indirectly not only benefits the tourism industry alone but also
stimulates other sectors of the local economy.

KOTA KINABALU, 18 November 2019: Deputy Chief Minister who is also Sabah Minister
of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Christina Liew, said the Malaysian Tourism
Board in collaboration with the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) also produced a brochure 'Best
of Sabah Packages 2019/2020' which promoted 100 tourism packages in the state at Sabah
State Assembly Conference. He said the package was distributed through e-brochures and
printouts at all Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board offices in and outside the country. This
is among the things done by the ministry through STB in formulating and implementing
various marketing strategies to promote Sabah to take advantage of the Visit Malaysia Year
2020 campaign Sabah to foreign markets. He added that among the tourism fairs to be
participated in for the first quarter of 2020 are the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Brunei in
January and the Malaysian Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (MATTA Fair) in
Kuala Lumpur in March. Sabah will also host the ‘PATA Adventure Travel Conference and
Mart 2020’ in February. This is a major trade conference event in Asia Pacific for the
adventure tourism industry.

Tourist Interest Tours

Sabah is indeed a very beautiful state with beautiful beaches, islands and diverse ethnic
cultures. Apart from that, the people here are also friendly and the local language of Sabah is
also really fun to listen to. If a tourist who loves sightseeing sees the beauty of nature &
beaches, the choice of interesting places in Kota Kinabalu is very much to explore. Tourists
can try to see interesting holiday destinations near Kota Kinabalu City. The majority of
popular tourist attractions in Sabah can be visited by tourists from Bandar KK.

There are many interesting holiday destinations near Kota Kinabalu City:

 Tungku Abdul Rahman Park

 Gaya Street Sunday Market
 Night Market KK ( Pasar Malam Sinsuran)
 .Lok Kawi Wildlife Park
 Mari Mari Cultural Village
 Signal Hill Observatory Platform
 Kokol Hill
 Tanjung Aru Beach
 Perdana Park
 Sabandar Cowboy Town
  Borneo Quad Biking
 North Borneo Railway by Sutera Harbour Resort
 Sabah State Museum

Event/Festival

Festivals are a great anchor to attract tourists. While destinations are always available,
holding a time -limited event encourages visitors to take advantage of this opportunity and
visit the venue during the event. For example, although many people are interested in visiting
Sabah, the famous Kaamatan Festival in Kota Kinabalu creates a unique sense of opportunity,
encouraging potential visitors to take full advantage of the activity. The festival is also a great
opportunity to get to know the local culture and feel the essence of the place. During the
event, visitors have a unique opportunity to interact with the local community, gaining a
deeper experience of the local atmosphere, customs and culture.

The Kaamatan Festival celebrated by the Kadazandusun Murut (KDM) community can be
regarded as one of the main attractions of the tourism industry in the state. The uniqueness of
the celebration is able to attract foreign and internal tourists to make Sabah a tourism hub
destination. Today we can see this festival not only in the context of cultural celebrations
alone but we see it produces a lot of tourism products. Many come from abroad in
conjunction with the May festival and the international community also we know they come
to Sabah just to see the harvest festival.