{"id":3967,"date":"2026-04-24T09:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/?p=3967"},"modified":"2026-04-24T09:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:41:08","slug":"stb-gathers-tourism-players-feedback-on-fuel-subsidy-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/?p=3967","title":{"rendered":"STB gathers tourism players’ feedback on fuel, subsidy issues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sabah Tourism Board (STB) held its first meeting with local tourism players following the establishment of its Crisis Response Unit to gather feedback on fuel supply constraints and access to subsidies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai chaired the meeting at the STB office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the feedback would be compiled and submitted to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, and subsequently to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living for further deliberation, including a meeting with its minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He said fuel-related challenges have significantly affected island resort operators, boat transfer services and inland eco-tourism activities, with many reporting unsuccessful subsidy applications despite repeated submissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operators also called for a review of the current subsidised fuel quota, saying the 200-litre daily cap for boat usage does not reflect actual operational needs in certain areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Semporna, a single boat transfer can take between 40 minutes and an hour, resulting in higher daily fuel consumption, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar concerns were raised in Kinabatangan, where lodge and river cruise operators cited diesel shortages and quota limits, with some scaling down operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants also urged the government to consider operational realities in island areas, including Selingan Turtle Island, where operators supply fuel for generators used by stationed security personnel at their own cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several operators said they are absorbing higher fuel costs to honour bookings made before recent price increases, limiting their ability to adjust package rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hotel representative also sought clarification on whether fuel subsidies could be extended to city hotels for operational use, such as laundry boilers, following the recent electricity tariff increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the suggestions raised were for relevant agencies to review data on registered tourism boats in Sabah to better assess fuel requirements, as well as to explore broader financial support measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include potential engagement with the Finance Ministry on industry assistance similar to Covid-19-era support, and discussions with financial institutions on possible loan moratoriums.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sabah Tourism Board (STB) held its first meeting with local tourism players following the establishment of its Crisis Response Unit to gather feedback on fuel supply constraints and access to subsidies. Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai chaired the meeting at the STB office. He said the feedback would be compiled and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG-20260424-WA0053.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}