KOTA KINABALU, 9 November 2026: Sabah Tourism Board has named Victoria Engku as its Chief Executive Officer effective 5 November, 2026.
In a Facebook post on 6 November, the tourism board confirmed Engku has taken over as Chief Executive Officer, replacing former CEO Julinus Jeffery Jimit.
Engku takes the helm at a critical juncture as the state ramps up preparation for the Visit Sabah 2027 campaign, aiming to transition the local industry toward high-yield, premium tourism experiences.
A Malaysian national, she reports to STB Chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, who is championing “Tourism Clusters Engagements”, enrolling travel agents, airline networks, and hotels to ensure market-driven innovation.
New to the tourism sector, Engku most recently served as General Manager at Hejaz Group, an Islamic financial services corporation in Melbourne, Australia, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Priorities for the incoming Sabah Tourism Board CEO include improving airline connectivity, building on early successes like direct routes from Singapore to Tawau and Tokyo to Kota Kinabalu.
She will also lead a data-driven strategy in which STB deploys a new Tourism Analytics Dashboard Portal Platform alongside the Sabah Regional Tourism Satellite Account (RSTA).
Her immediate benchmark task is to drive the state toward attracting 4 million targeted arrivals, supporting the broader Visit Malaysia initiatives.
She met with the Sabah Tourism Board chairman, Joniston Bangkuai, for a briefing on 5 November.
The STB chairman noted: “I believe that with her extensive leadership and management experience across various industries and markets, including financial services and the retail and consumer brands industry, she brings valuable expertise in organisational transformation, operational management and stakeholder engagement to propel Sabah’s tourism industry to greater heights.”
(Source: Sabah Tourism Board Facebook posts and LinkedIn)
