KOTA KINABALU: Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Christina Liew said the double-decker buses for hop-on, hop-off tours were inspired during the World Travel Market (WTM) in London.
“This is a very good and new product for tourism in Sabah. We never had this before. We saw this during the tourism event in London two years ago,” said Liew, who tried out the service together with travel agents.
“It was hard work to mobilise this initiative that was mooted in London. And today we are here after going through the technical part a few months ago,” she added.
She believes that this new concept of hop-on, hop-off will be very popular in the future for foreign tourists who come here for a 2.5-hour ride around the city.
She said the management of the company could probably extend the route outside of Kota Kinabalu’s boundary in the future.
“I expect them to do that in order to make it livelier and more interesting to the tourists who come. This caters not only to foreign tourists but also to local domestic tourists,” said Liew.
She was delighted with the new product and congratulated the company which worked so hard to obtain the licensing, importation and renovation of the buses.
“I look forward to better service along the way and also thank Kota Kinabalu City Hall (KKCH) for cleaning up the city to enable tourists to get a very good impression of us along the routes,” she said.
She said the service is expected to do well with the cooperation of KKCH, Sabah Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism so that more buses can be imported to expand the tours to other parts of the state, such as Kota Belud and Mount Kinabalu.
The service was launched on September 12, however Liew was not present due to other commitments.
KK Hop On Hop Off Chairman Datuk Tan Lok Liang said the Minister was invited to inspect and experience the ride because this project was promoted by her two years ago, including obtaining the permit to construct the buses and approval from KKCH.
“We believe that this bus will be a good product for the city. It will all go well as it will give tourists a new dimension looking from the buses, especially the city views. And there will be liberty to hop on and hop off, nice and friendly,” he said.
Currently, there are two units of 60-seater high buses operating and one more will be added in the future to make it three units, he said, adding that starting from October 1, they will launch the online booking. – Wu Vuide
