Sabah’s strong presence at the 2025 first edition of Matta Fair Kuala Lumpur from 18 to 20 April shows a significant increase in sales, with the highest amount recorded at RM 4.5 million, a positive increase of 46% from the same period last year.
43 Sabah travel agents participated in the fair, which was led by the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) as the anchor for promoting the destination in the Sabah zone.
These encouraging responses affirmed Sabah’s continued status as a preferred domestic travel destination, providing a diverse array of tourism offerings ranging from adventure, culture and nature to community-based tourism.
STB also debuted two local brands from Sabah; Chanteek Borneo showcased various clothing and textile designs with traditional Sabah motifs, while Uinah introduced the health benefits of its refreshing locally crafted drink made from locally sourced ingredients harvested sustainably in Sabah. Both brands received favourable responses from the Matta Fair attendees.
STB CEO, Julinus Jeffery Jimit, attributed the success to the dedication and active participation of Sabah’s tour and travel agencies, which reflects the Sabahan camaraderie in promoting the state’s tourism industry together with STB.
Sabah Tourism continued its strong commitment to enhancing its destination promotional efforts for Sabah in the domestic and international markets, including active participation in major travel events like the Matta Fair. This effort echoes the STB ‘Explore Sabah’ campaign leading up to Visit Malaysia Year 2026.
STB’s booth theme, ‘Explore Sabah Dulu Bah’, encourages visitors to redeem travel rebate vouchers up to RM 100.00 with every purchase requiring a minimum RM 600.00 deposit in a single receipt.
To encourage visitors to choose community-based tourism (CBT) products, RM 50.00 travel rebate vouchers per pax as opposed to per package were offered to CBT product buyers.
STB kept the booth exciting with a virtual reality (VR) experience and daily booth activities to attract visitors and increase retention in the booth. A survey was also conducted to study domestic consumer behaviour.
Julinus also launched Sabah Tourism’s new Augmented Reality Map (AR Map), available for both the Sabah Map and Kota Kinabalu City Map. Users can scan a barcode on the maps to unlock more information about key attractions. The maps offer an interactive experience, complete with helpful guidelines and animations.
This latest promotional material is part of STB’s initiatives to make exploring Sabah a more immersive, engaging and accessible experience.
Physical copies of the map were distributed to attendees at the Matta Fair and are also currently available for download from the Sabah Tourism Board’s official website.
Earlier on, in August last year, Sabah Tourism launched a digital careline chatbot, called Avantang, which provides round-the-clock access to essential travel information and assistance. This facility is accessible from the Sabah Tourism website, WeChat account or WhatsApp number +6019-9392121 .