Joniston (middle) witnessing the exchanging of documents between Sirajudin (left) and Arifin.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah should have a helicopter service that is specifically catered for luxury tourists who wish to travel around the various tourism destinations in the state.
Assistant State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said he welcomed Giaan Flying Academy’s (GFA) interest in investing in the establishment of a training academy for pilots here in Sabah.
“The company is also planning to provide helicopter services to enable the luxury tourists to travel to the places of interest here.
“This would certainly attract more ‘high-end tourists’, who prefer a shorter journey by air rather than by road, to come to Sabah,” he told the press after witnessing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between GFA and Institut Kemahiran Sabah (IKS), on Saturday.
Joniston opined that GFA’s decision to spread its wings to Sabah proved that the former is confident with Sabah’s investment potential and political stability.
He added that the state government had also eased the procedures for international investors to come to Sabah.
Earlier, during his speech, Joniston explained that discussions had been previously conducted to focus on efforts to bring in more luxury tourists to Sabah.
“A few years ago, a group of dignitaries as well as international celebrities came to Sandakan to travel.
“They wanted to travel to Danum Valley by air at that time. They had to opt for a helicopter service just to do so,” said Joniston.
He gave his assurance that the state government is prepared to support and supervise the proposal to provide the helicopter service in Sabah.
Meanwhile, GFA chariman Datuk Sirajudin Mohamed Mydin said that his company had figured out an idea on how to bring luxury tourists to Sabah by providing the said helicopter service.
He said the service would be used for destinations that are not reachable by road or for destinations that would require long travelling hours.
Also present in the event was IKS director-general Prof Madya Arifin Willie Muhamad.
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