Royal Brunei Airlines' (RB) direct connectivity to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah helps draw European tourists visiting the 'Land Below the Wind', said Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Christina Liew who is also Sabah's Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister.

Sabah is drawing more European tourists as there is connectivity provided by RB and China Southern Airlines, she said.

European tourists will be Sabah's focus as it is also consolidating strong annual tourist arrivals from China.

The move is to further diversify its tourism market that is highly dependent on the thriving China tourist market.

The Sunday Bulletin learnt that tourists from China also use RB connectivity to visit Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

"We will kick off our campaign to promote Sabah to other countries, starting with Germany in March. I will be leading a delegation to Berlin first and we will be visiting other European countries as well," Liew told Malaysian media on Thursday after announcing that the state government's Chinese New Year open house will be held on February 5.