Tourist arrivals in Sabah have increased by 442 per cent this year. Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said from January until May, the total number of visitors was 558,169, compared with 102,965 in the same period last year.

"The efforts by the state government in attracting tourists have borne fruit. The development can be seen through the significant increase in terms of domestic and international tourists into the state.

"I am confident the figure will further increase by the end of this year following the opening of borders via land, sea and air.

"With the presence of more tourists, services and other related sectors, such as hotels, transportation and food, will recover as usual," he said when replying to a question by Datuk Rubin Balang (Bersatu-Kemabong) on the state government's approach to revive the economy.

Hajiji, who is also state Finance Minister, said that the tourism sector had also signed two Memorandum of Understanding with developers to build mega facility development projects in the west coast of Sabah.

The first collaboration was between Yayasan Sabah Group with Tegas Bangsa Sdn Bhd to develop Lok Kawi Resort City worth RM7billion in investment and the other is with Pavilion Kota Kinabalu Sdn Bhd for the RM2billion Pavillion Harbour City.

As for the state's economic revival trend now, Hajiji said Sabah was now having a more positive outlook.

"It can be seen through the state's macroeconomic indicators in 2021 compared with 2020, despite the global economic slowdown caused by various factors.

"For example, based on a preliminary report released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), Sabah's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been growing at a positive rate of 1.1 per cent compared with a contraction of 9.5 per cent in the previous year.

"Besides that, the highest state revenue collection, throughout the history of the establishment of this state, totalled RM5.449 billion in 2021. Dividends by agencies and government-linked companies under the state government continued to increase to RM116.35 million in 2021 compared with RM100.39 million in 2020."