By September 1 this year, Deputy Minister Datuk Christina Liew said the Sabah Government aims to open its door to international tourists.

She said that this would be done by taking into account the current COVID-19pandemic situation and advice from the Ministry of Health when it subscribes to the standard operational procedure (SOP).

"We are looking forward to the reopening of the international sector (tourists), but we will be very selective,” she told reporters after a visit to the Api-Api night food market at Gaya Street.

Liew, who is also Minister of State Tourism, Culture, and the Environment, has always been told about information about the matter from other countries by agencies under her ministerial authority, particularly the Sabah Tourism Board (STB).

She said the government was reopening the tourism sector, allowing the night market to operate on Gaya Street.

“We have also re-opened Mount Kinabalu since May 16, and it had attracted about 2,000 climbers, mostly local visitors,” she added.

In the meantime, Liew said that a conference with the China Consul General will be held in Kota Kinabalu in Liang Caide, next week, in tandem with the move of the state to allow the arrivals of China's tourists.

She said that COVID-19 did not impact all areas of China and that the meeting would discuss amongst many other ways in which tourists from these areas could arrive more quickly.

From January to November last year, the Sabah Tourism Board recorded 3.766 million tourists arrivals, with China contributing the most.