Sabah’s Head of State opens 1st Commonwealth Conference on Sport Tourism in Kota Kinabalu

Conference delegates come from Africa, Asia, Australia, Caribbean, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and UK

Sabah’s Head of State H.E. Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Ahmadshah Bin Abdullah on May 13 2008 officially declared open the 1st Commonwealth Conference on Sport Tourism in Kota Kinabalu in the presence of Sabah’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, the Hon. Datuk Masidi Manjun, representing the Chief Minister the Hon. Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman; the Minister of Tourism, the Hon. Dato’ Sri Azalina Dato’ Othman Said and Datuk Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin, Chairman, Sabah Tourism Board. 

Attending the conference are delegates and participants from Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries. Among them are Mr Joseph Ross, Minister of Tourism, Trinidad and Tobago; Mr. Gabriel Namulambe, Minister of Sport, Youth and Child Development, Zambia; and Mr Todd Stewart Chilembo, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Natural Resources, Zambia. There are also delegates from Antigua and Barbuda, Botswana, Brunei, Cyprus, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia, Mozambique, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Philippines and The Netherlands. Among these delegates are representatives of national tourism and sport organisations, academics, travel agents and event organisers.   

Explaining why CTC organized this conference, CTC Director General Abdul Rahman Shaari said: “Across the world, sport tourism has undoubtedly become an increasingly important social, cultural, political and economic phenomenon. However, while sport tourism can create impressive benefits, it can also have negative impacts.  Yet, opportunities for sport tourism industry players and academics to meet and discuss the key issues of sport tourism have been few and far between. Therefore CTC decided to organise this conference with the main aim of providing a platform to discuss the critical issues of sport tourism in order to maximise benefits and minimise negative impacts for host destinations.”

“This conference has been made possible by the unwavering support and very generous assistance of our conference partners as well as the most enthusiastic response from our distinguished speakers and participants from Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries.  I hope the 1st Commonwealth Conference on Sport Tourism will be the forerunner of further conferences on this important topic,” he added.