Malaysia’s government is looking to the skies to draw visitors, with the tourism and Culture Ministry (MOTAC) eyeing the astrotourism market to increase visitor numbers in the northern state of Sabah.

“With a minimum cost, it is not impossible for astrotourism to increase tourist arrivals in Sabah,” said MOTAC director Ag Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar, who added that with proper planning, the Sabah could become one of the world’s premier stargazing locations.

The potential tourism draw for Malaysia, added Bakar, has been inspired by the million star hotel – a luxury camping concept based around stargazing where tourists can spend a night in the wilderness while watching the skies.

Bakar was speaking during an official Perseid Meteor Shower event in Kudat where 500 people turned up to see the astrological phenomenon in which meteorite fragments hits earth’s atmosphere about 40 to 60 miles above the planet’s surface, creating a dazzling light show in areas not flooded with light pollution.

Ahead of the shower, planetarium'>Malaysia National Planetarium science officer, Mohd Zamri Shah Mansor, gave a talk explaining the phenomenon to those in attendance.

The event was a collaboration between MOTAC and the Sabah Stargazers – a group formed on the basis of sharing information and knowledge about the skies, while learning basic techniques of capturing and processing astrophotography images.