MINISTRY TO PROMOTE HOMESTAYS TO BUILD EXPERIENCES

KOTA KINABALU (Malaysia), June 9 (Bernama) -- The Tourism Ministry is to
undertake aggressive promotion of homestays, but with the emphasis on lifestyle
and building experiences rather than leisure and recreation, Minister Dr Ng Yen
Yen said Monday.

"We will identify all the good homestays where they have programmes which
will provide the people with experiences. We will also match homestays with
specific countries. For example, if we want to promote a certain homestay to
France, we will give the villagers basic training in the French language," she
said.

The aggressive move was also to change the mindset of the people that
homestays were not about low-budget tourism or cheaper accommodation but about
experience and lifestyle, she told reporters after a meeting with the Sabah
Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry and Sabah Tourism Board, in this
capital city of East Malaysia state of Sabah.

Ng said she was happy to hear that Sabah had successful homestays, and
identified three of them as Miso Walai, Walai Tokou and Misompuru.

She said the state ministry would identify homestays it wanted to promote
aggressively, and the first country where Sabah homestays would be promoted was
Singapore, due to the shared similarity of the Malay and English languages.

Some operators misunderstood the point of homestays and rented premises or a
house to operate one, she said, adding that the ministry would not allow this.

"The homes must be owner-occupied. Owners must interact with the people who
stay there. There must also be participation of the whole village, with the
people playing a role in drawing up the programmes and activities for the
tourists," she said.

Ng said homestays should be able to provide the experience of traditional
economic activities like rubber tapping, traditional games, songs, dances and
local recipes to give the tourists a sense of belonging to the village so as to
ensure repeat tourists.
-- BERNAMA