ID :
147335
Mon, 10/25/2010 - 11:20
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/147335
The shortlink copeid
EAST MALAYSIA STATES STEP UP TOURISM PROMOTION AT ITB ASIA FAIR
SINGAPORE, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- East Malaysia states of Sabah and Sarawak tourism
promotion agencies and tour-related companies put on a strong show at the just
concluded ITB Asia Fair, the largest tourism fair in this region, to capitalise
on the resurgence of tourism.
For instance, Rajang Pandaw River Cruises of Sibu, Sarawak, which offers unique
river cruises along the river, received many business enquiries following its
presence at the fair.
Rajang Pandaw Chief Executive Choong Hing Yim told Bernama that his
"floating hotels", as he described his river boat cruises, were popular with
Australians, Americans, Britons and Europeans.
"Most of my clients are well-placed retirees who are not affected by the
economic crisis," he said.
Miri Marriott Hotel Senior Sales Manager Josephine Ooi said given that Miri was
renowned for oil exploration, especially with a growing cluster of expatriates
settling in the region, there was good potential for the MICE (meetings,
incentives, conventions and exhibition) business.
Her hotel, which has the requisite infrastructure and facilities to hold over
500 guests at a time for MICE events, received many enquiries from European tour
operators and "promising enquiries" from India.
Sarawak is keen to promote its MICE facilities and the Kuching-based Sarawak
Convention Bureau sent Amelia Roziman, its marketing and communications manager,
to make a pitch for Sarawak MICE facilities at the fair.
Amelia said that her bureau had been "highly successful" because it had achieved
a 70 per cent success rate as far as bidding for MICE events was concerned.
"We not only have hotels but also the Borneo Convention Centre, which has a
5,000 seating capacity theatre-style. We are organising conferences such as the
International Peatland Congress in 2016 and International Convention of Urban
Drainage and the Irrigation Fair in 2012," she said.
Sarawak's rich and renowned wildlife, Amelia said, had also generated tremendous
interest among Western and Australian wildlife lovers.
Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Marketing Manager Noredah Othman was pitching for
Sabah's wildlife, adventure tours and new products such as Via Ferrata, the
highest mountain road in the world.
Noredah, a regular visitor to ITB Asia and had also attended the ITB Berlin
show, said that her presence in Singapore was meant to provide Sabah with higher
visibility internationally.
"It's great that Malaysia Airlines will soon be flying diretly to Perth in
Australia from Kota Kinabalu. This will provide a big boost to tourism traffic
from Australia whose nationals love the scenic beauty of Sabah," she added.
She said Sabah's dependence on tourism as a foreign exchange source had
increased in recent years, deriving some RM3.875 billion in 2009, with the bulk
of the revenue coming from Australia, UK and Europe. (US$1=RM3.09)
But in terms of numbers, Sabah gets its main tourist traffic from China, Hong
Kong and South Korea.
Sarawak's top tourism representatives including Deputy Chief Minister and
Tourism and Heritage Minister Dr George Chan Hong Nam also made a presentation
of its range of all-inclusive tours known as "Sarawak Integrated Packages (SIP)"
at ITB Asia.
STB Chief Executive Officer Rashid Khan said the campaign was aimed at attracting Singaporeans and foreigners in Singapore to Sarawak, utilising the direct flights to Kuching operated by Malaysia Airlines, Silk Air, Air Asia and Tiger Airways.
Malaysia Airlines will introduce directly Singapore-Miri flights on Oct 31.
Rashid said the strategy shift was aimed to double the number of tourist arrivals in Sarawak over last year's total.
With the SIP programme, STB hopes to attract 62,000 tourist arrivals from Singapore and an estimated RM124.8 million in tourist receipts. In 2009, Sarawak recorded 50,243 tourist arrivals from Singapore.
Sarawak's latest initiative comes on the heels of a recent similar campaign to attract visitors from South Korea and Japan to capitalise on three new Malaysia Airlines flights from Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka.
promotion agencies and tour-related companies put on a strong show at the just
concluded ITB Asia Fair, the largest tourism fair in this region, to capitalise
on the resurgence of tourism.
For instance, Rajang Pandaw River Cruises of Sibu, Sarawak, which offers unique
river cruises along the river, received many business enquiries following its
presence at the fair.
Rajang Pandaw Chief Executive Choong Hing Yim told Bernama that his
"floating hotels", as he described his river boat cruises, were popular with
Australians, Americans, Britons and Europeans.
"Most of my clients are well-placed retirees who are not affected by the
economic crisis," he said.
Miri Marriott Hotel Senior Sales Manager Josephine Ooi said given that Miri was
renowned for oil exploration, especially with a growing cluster of expatriates
settling in the region, there was good potential for the MICE (meetings,
incentives, conventions and exhibition) business.
Her hotel, which has the requisite infrastructure and facilities to hold over
500 guests at a time for MICE events, received many enquiries from European tour
operators and "promising enquiries" from India.
Sarawak is keen to promote its MICE facilities and the Kuching-based Sarawak
Convention Bureau sent Amelia Roziman, its marketing and communications manager,
to make a pitch for Sarawak MICE facilities at the fair.
Amelia said that her bureau had been "highly successful" because it had achieved
a 70 per cent success rate as far as bidding for MICE events was concerned.
"We not only have hotels but also the Borneo Convention Centre, which has a
5,000 seating capacity theatre-style. We are organising conferences such as the
International Peatland Congress in 2016 and International Convention of Urban
Drainage and the Irrigation Fair in 2012," she said.
Sarawak's rich and renowned wildlife, Amelia said, had also generated tremendous
interest among Western and Australian wildlife lovers.
Sabah Tourism Board (STB) Marketing Manager Noredah Othman was pitching for
Sabah's wildlife, adventure tours and new products such as Via Ferrata, the
highest mountain road in the world.
Noredah, a regular visitor to ITB Asia and had also attended the ITB Berlin
show, said that her presence in Singapore was meant to provide Sabah with higher
visibility internationally.
"It's great that Malaysia Airlines will soon be flying diretly to Perth in
Australia from Kota Kinabalu. This will provide a big boost to tourism traffic
from Australia whose nationals love the scenic beauty of Sabah," she added.
She said Sabah's dependence on tourism as a foreign exchange source had
increased in recent years, deriving some RM3.875 billion in 2009, with the bulk
of the revenue coming from Australia, UK and Europe. (US$1=RM3.09)
But in terms of numbers, Sabah gets its main tourist traffic from China, Hong
Kong and South Korea.
Sarawak's top tourism representatives including Deputy Chief Minister and
Tourism and Heritage Minister Dr George Chan Hong Nam also made a presentation
of its range of all-inclusive tours known as "Sarawak Integrated Packages (SIP)"
at ITB Asia.
STB Chief Executive Officer Rashid Khan said the campaign was aimed at attracting Singaporeans and foreigners in Singapore to Sarawak, utilising the direct flights to Kuching operated by Malaysia Airlines, Silk Air, Air Asia and Tiger Airways.
Malaysia Airlines will introduce directly Singapore-Miri flights on Oct 31.
Rashid said the strategy shift was aimed to double the number of tourist arrivals in Sarawak over last year's total.
With the SIP programme, STB hopes to attract 62,000 tourist arrivals from Singapore and an estimated RM124.8 million in tourist receipts. In 2009, Sarawak recorded 50,243 tourist arrivals from Singapore.
Sarawak's latest initiative comes on the heels of a recent similar campaign to attract visitors from South Korea and Japan to capitalise on three new Malaysia Airlines flights from Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka.
