Sabah sees a surge in South Korean tourists

22 March 2023

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah welcomed 21,541 South Korean tourists in January this year, which is almost half of the total number of 55,152 arrivals from that country in 2020.

Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said that South Korea is a vital market for Sabah tourism and that STB had visited the country as soon as the border reopened in April last year to promote Sabah’s attractions.

He attributed the increase in South Korean tourists to the availability of more direct flights to Sabah from Incheon and Busan, as well as connections via Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, China, Taipei, and Brunei.

He also said that Sabah’s islands, beaches and golf courses are popular among South Korean visitors.

He made these remarks when he met with a media team from Coceuco, a South Korean company that produces and sells multi-functional skin care products under the brand Repove.

The company had brought 450 top performers to Sabah for an incentive trip.

Before the pandemic, Sabah recorded 396,700 and 337,100 arrivals from South Korea in 2019 and 2018 respectively. They are the second largest international market for Sabah after China.