KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) plans to hold local fruit festivals to attract more domestic and foreign tourists to visit four registered homestays around the city under its supervision.
Kota Kinabalu Mayor Datuk Seri Dr. Sabin Samitah said the four homestays are Desa Cinta Kobuni, Id Kalangadan, Darau Wetland, and most recently, Id Pogimpaan, which are all under its Community-Based Tourism (CBT) initiative.
He said that in the near future, a detailed discussion will be held involving Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and several related agencies, including the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), for that purpose.
“We see this as a potential to attract tourists to visit Homestays and as a new tourism product that can be commercialised, thereby adding to the existing products.
“For example, the Homestay Id Pogimpan tourism area, Kampung Binaung Baru Menggatal, which is famous for its attractive scenery and existing fruit farming areas, can achieve the desired goal,” he told reporters here today.
“Of course, establishing a local fruit festival is a good proposal that can increase the income of the homestay operators themselves.
“We will ensure that this proposal can be implemented in the future, as it is a strategy that has been outlined involving 16 programmes to be carried out and will be implemented by DBKK.
“Among the objectives of this programme is to enhance the socio-economic status of the local community through involvement in tourism activities by diversifying and upgrading various tourism products and preserving natural resources while maintaining the heritage and culture of the local community,” explained Dr. Sabin.
