{"id":4037,"date":"2026-05-08T14:15:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T14:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/?p=4037"},"modified":"2026-05-08T15:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:24:00","slug":"semporna-to-be-developed-as-premier-blue-economy-tourism-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/?p=4037","title":{"rendered":"Semporna to be developed as premier blue economy tourism hub"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>SEMPORNA: May 8, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Semporna needs comprehensive planning to transform it into a premier tourism hub within the blue economy sector, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hajiji said the district is unique as it is home to world-renowned tourist destinations, particularly Sipadan Island, as well as other islands that continue to attract visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said Semporna also has strong fisheries and marine potential that can be further developed through the blue economy sector, which is expected to generate significant returns for the people and the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"4034\" src=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496349544137899439546371561-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4034\" srcset=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496349544137899439546371561-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496349544137899439546371561-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496349544137899439546371561-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496349544137899439546371561-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496349544137899439546371561.jpeg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSemporna is not only about tourism. Its fisheries and marine resources are also highly valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe District Officer, in his briefing, also outlined good plans for Semporna\u2019s future, including maintaining cleanliness and improving facilities such as jetties on the islands and other amenities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll these aspects will be looked at comprehensively to ensure Semporna becomes a major tourism district, as it is home to Sipadan Island and other islands that are widely recognised,\u201d he said after attending a district development briefing during his visit to Mataking Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The visit was held in conjunction with the Chief Minister\u2019s security inspection tour of the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESS Zone).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"602\" data-id=\"4035\" src=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496631241604535697035124161-1024x602.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4035\" srcset=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496631241604535697035124161-1024x602.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496631241604535697035124161-300x176.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496631241604535697035124161-768x452.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496631241604535697035124161-1536x903.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/wa_17782496631241604535697035124161.jpeg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Hajiji said that, if properly preserved, Semporna\u2019s tourism sector could become an invaluable asset not only for Sabah but also for Malaysia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe need to do our best to further improve facilities and other requirements in this district in line with Semporna\u2019s tourism development, as well as in Lahad Datu and Sandakan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier, Hajiji said his visits to the cluster of islands around Semporna, as well as Sandakan and Lahad Datu, were aimed at personally assessing the security situation, particularly on islands along Sabah\u2019s east coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said he also wanted to inspect the condition of security control posts on the islands, in addition to receiving development briefings for the three districts visited during the tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Hajiji also visited Sipadan Island, where he received a briefing from Sabah Parks on developments there, followed by the groundbreaking ceremony for a security post on Ligitan Island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SEMPORNA: May 8, 2026 Semporna needs comprehensive planning to transform it into a premier tourism hub within the blue economy sector, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor. Hajiji said the district is unique as it is home to world-renowned tourist destinations, particularly Sipadan Island, as well as other islands that continue to attract visitors&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4036,"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-4037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG-20260507-WA003428129.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4037","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=4037"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4037\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4038,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4037\/revisions\/4038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}