KOTA KINABALU: Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA) Koisaan Cultural Village (KCV) is the second to receive Malaysia Tourism Quality Assurance (MyTQA) Certificate in Sabah.

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew, who is also the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, said the certification is a very prestigious tourism service award given by The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), which showed KDCA’s quality of service provided to its visitors.

In her speech, Christina said the main purpose of the certification was to improve the services and quality of facilities of tourism products in Malaysia by the tourism industry players.

Her speech was delivered by General Manager Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Noredah Othman during the launching of Sabah Food Festival 2019 and Sabah Homestay Carnival and official launching of Experiencesabah.com (Online booking portal for Sabah Homestay Association) at KDCA in Penampang, yesterday.

Christina also lauded the effort of the three organizers of the event, KDCA KCV, Sabah Homestay Association and Experiencesabah.com, which was a smart partnership between non-government organizations and business agencies.

She said the collaboration was good of the culture and tourism in Sabah and in line with the government’s aim to foster unity among all Malaysians.

Highlighting tourism as the major source of income for Malaysia, particularly in Sabah, she reminded that two fundamental and unique attractions for Sabah are rich and diverse culture and awesome environment.

Therefore, the food festival which a three-in-one programme would provide opportunity to promote products of cultural tourism and become a pioneer for other tourism industry players.

Meanwhile, KDCA president, Huguan Siou Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Datuk Kitingan in his speech said KDCA played its role in Sabah economic development through tourism.

He said the event which was held for four days (December 13 to 16) showcased Sabah’s multicultural community through various signature dishes and hoped that the festival could be an annual event as well as put in STB’s event calendar.

Also present at the event the political secretary of the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Jamil Datuk Hamzah and organizing chairperson from KDCA Zandi Sairah Indan.