{"id":4148,"date":"2026-09-19T07:54:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T07:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/?p=4148"},"modified":"2026-09-19T07:54:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T07:54:25","slug":"china-arrivals-to-sabah-up-25-per-cent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/?p=4148","title":{"rendered":"China arrivals to Sabah up 25 per cent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FUZHOU: 18 September 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Sabah is seeing growing momentum from the China market, with visitor arrivals surging by 25.5 per cent in the first seven months of the year, reinforcing China\u2019s position as the state\u2019s largest international source market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Speaking at the Sabah B2B Roadshow, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said Sabah recorded 484,699 arrivals from China between January and July 2026, up from 386,217 arrivals during the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>\u201cThis strong growth reflects the continued demand for Sabah among Chinese travellers and highlights the importance of strengthening our connectivity with China,\u201d he said.<\/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=\"683\" data-id=\"4143\" src=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00253779111705323719358-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4143\" srcset=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00253779111705323719358-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00253779111705323719358-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00253779111705323719358-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00253779111705323719358-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00253779111705323719358.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"4144\" src=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00287018122238151177989-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4144\" srcset=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00287018122238151177989-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00287018122238151177989-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00287018122238151177989-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00287018122238151177989-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00287018122238151177989.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>To further support this growing demand, Xiamen Airlines will resume its direct Xiamen\u2013Kota Kinabalu service on Sept 23, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Together with the existing Fuzhou\u2013Kota Kinabalu route, Sabah will now benefit from seven direct flights per week from Fujian province \u2014 four from Xiamen and three from Fuzhou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>\u201cThis enhanced connectivity will make Sabah more accessible to travellers from Fujian and the surrounding regions, while creating greater opportunities for our tourism industry,\u201d Jafry said.<\/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=\"989\" data-id=\"4146\" src=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00295704209267509518531-1024x989.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4146\" srcset=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00295704209267509518531-1024x989.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00295704209267509518531-300x290.jpg 300w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00295704209267509518531-768x742.jpg 768w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa00295704209267509518531.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-id=\"4145\" src=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa0027644872487089480670-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa0027644872487089480670-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa0027644872487089480670-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa0027644872487089480670-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa0027644872487089480670-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/img-20260919-wa0027644872487089480670.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also highlighted that Sabah remains a land of incredible diversity, appealing to Chinese tourists not just through its beaches and ancient rainforests, but also through the warmth of its people and rich cultural traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>The B2B Roadshow was organised in collaboration with the Malaysia Chinese Tourism Association (MCTA) Sabah Chapter, Xiamen Airlines and the Sabah Tourism Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>It brought together key travel agents and industry players from Xiamen and Quanzhou to explore new collaborations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FUZHOU: 18 September 2026 Sabah is seeing growing momentum from the China market, with visitor arrivals surging by 25.5 per cent in the first seven months of the year, reinforcing China\u2019s position as the state\u2019s largest international source market. Speaking at the Sabah B2B Roadshow, Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin said&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[339,334,363,335,212,295,210],"class_list":["post-4148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-culture-and-environment-ministry","tag-datuk-jafry-arifin","tag-lahad-datu-tourism","tag-semporna-tourism","tag-holidaysabah-com","tag-matta-sabah","tag-sabahtourismboard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG-20260919-WA0026.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4148","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=4148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}