RWMF ticket sales hit 22,000, down just 2pct despite global headwinds

Abdul Karim (fourth left) and other dignitaries pose for a group photo at Tourism Malaysia's booth during his walkabout at RWMF grounds at Sarawak Cultural Village on June 26, 2026.

By Shikin Louis

KUCHING, June 26: The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) has recorded ticket sales of about 22,000 this year—a marginal two per cent drop from last year’s figures—despite concerns that global uncertainties and higher travel costs would dampen attendance.

Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said he had expected a bigger decline due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, rising fuel prices and more expensive airfares.

“Personally, before we reached today’s event, I was quite sceptical. I was quite worried because of what is happening in the Middle East. The price of fuel, the price of flight tickets definitely must have affected those who planned for this year’s festival.

“But somehow, the numbers have not really dropped that much,” he told a press conference after a walkabout at the RWMF grounds at the Sarawak Cultural Village today.

Abdul Karim said ticket sales currently stand at around 22,000, compared with more than 23,000 recorded last year.

“This year, there’s a drop of only two per cent from last year. The ticket sales were about 22,000, and this is not taking into account those who might just come in the next day as walk-in visitors,” he added.

He noted that the final attendance could still increase, as visitors in Kuching for other international events over the weekend may also decide to attend RWMF.

Abdul Karim said the Sarawak government intentionally schedules several major events around the same period to create synergy and encourage visitors to attend multiple events during their stay.

Among the events taking place this weekend are 2026 IBF World Youth Bowling Championships and Samarahan Bike Challenge 2026 involving participants from around the region.

“They can come for that, and they also can come for this. Actually, we planned it that way. Quite a number of those events, we planned them to be within each other so that at least one can support the other,” he said.

While he had hoped this year’s attendance would surpass last year’s numbers, Abdul Karim believed higher airfares had contributed to the slower growth.

“As the years go by, it should be going up. I was expecting this year would be much more than last year, but it might have stayed stagnant partly because of the flight tickets.

“But we’re still very, very happy with the number of ticket sales that we have,” he added.

Asked about the cost of organising RWMF, Abdul Karim said the State government does not disclose the festival’s budget as it is jointly funded by ministries, government agencies and private sector partners.

Instead, he stressed that the State views such festivals as investments that generate substantial economic returns for the tourism industry.

“What we invest, we know the returns. The tourism receipts do not go into the government’s coffers, but they go into the industry,” he said.

According to Abdul Karim, Sarawak has consistently recorded tourism receipts of more than RM1 billion every month over the past two years, driven by spending on accommodation, food, transport and other tourism-related services by visitors from within Malaysia and abroad, including Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and other Southeast Asian countries. — DayakDaily