SANDAKAN: The Tourism Association (STAN) will be working closely with its counterpart in Shantou/Chaozhou, China, in an effort to boost visitor traffic between the two regions.
STAN President, Teo Chee Kim, believes that Sandakan has the potential to attract more visitors from China, especially from the Shantou/Chaozhou (Teo Chew) region in view of the new direct flight between Kota Kinabalu and Jieyang Chaoshan.
Teo expressed his optimism after attending a networking dinner with the Chaozhou Tourism Industry Association in Chaozhou City recently.
The networking dinner was hosted by the Sandakan Teochew Association. Also present at the dinner were the Chairman of the Sandakan Teo Chew Association, Datuk Edward Khoo; the Secretary General of the Chaozhou Tourism Industry Association, Chen Lipeng; Vice Chairman Lin Zixian; special officer for Vivian Wong, Tang Szu Ching; and 10 tour operators from the Chaoshan region.
Teo, who is also a committee member of the Sandakan Teo Chew Association, was among the 131-strong delegates led by Datuk Edward Khoo that visited Chaoshan on the inaugural Kota Kinabalu – Jieyang Chaoshan flight.
Teo expressed his gratitude to Datuk Edward Khoo for hosting the event and for specially inviting over ten representatives from the Chaozhou City Tourism Industry Association to attend the networking dinner, giving him the chance to introduce and promote Sandakan’s tourist attractions to Chaoshan travel agencies.
Teo has also extended an invitation to the Chaozhou Tourism Industry Association to visit Sandakan for a familiarisation trip to open the door for further collaborations and exchanges between the two regions.
