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Malaysia Travel Guide

State to Pursue Connectivity Despite Setbacks

State to Pursue Connectivity Despite Setbacks

The State will continue to pursue connectivity to international airport hubs despite recent setbacks, assured the Assistant Minister for Tourism, Datuk Lee Kim Shin yesterday.

It is not easy to convince airlines especially foreign carriers to Sarawak as there are equally attractive destinations that they can look to, he said.

We are trying our very best and the ROUTES Asia 2019 sessions’ here has been a touch point to meet up with airline companies in the regions and we want to convince them that connectivity into Sarawak can be a viable business, he added.

Having scheduled meeting appointments and engagements with airlines and airports, we began to understand the business and that enables us to be wiser when dealing with the business professionals in the tourism industry, he continued.

Datuk Lee, who was leading the Sarawak Tourism Board’s delegation to the business gathering today met up with nine airlines especially companies mostly from the region and fours airport operators to obtain better insights into their business needs.

“We made headway today and with some promising results during the engagement session and that keeps our hopes up in securing better connectivity into the State, he enthused.

“We have to work hard and be able to give enough reasons to convince airline operators to consider mounting flight to Sarawak”, he added.

Today, the Sarawak team met up with at four more airline operators to wind up the session before calling it a day and return back.

Acknowledging that connectivity must be propelled by sufficient number of travellers, tourists and holiday makers, Datuk Lee said it must also be complemented by business travels and as such conducive business environment and attractive destination’s tourism products were sought for by airlines operators he explained.

ROUTES Asia, the region’s leading meetings of airlines and airport executives started on March 10 and will end today.

Datuk Lee (left) with Zainuddin Mohammad, Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad’s Senior Manager and sharzede (right) as the business meeting with representatives of Qatar Airways

 

Datuk Lee (right) presenting the Gunung Mulu National Park coffee table book to Min Yao, Director of International Planning of China Express Airlines. Seen from left is STB’s Chief Executive officer, Sharzede Datu Haji Salleh Askor and China Express’s International Business Manager, Meng Ling.

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Malaysia Travel Guide

STB to Ramp up Tourism Promo in the Netherlands

STB to Ramp up Tourism Promo in the Netherlands

Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) is set to ramp its tourism promotion in the Netherlands with at least three Dutch operators who have expressed their interests in joint marketing collaboration.

“It’s timely as we are now promoting aggressively our Visit Sarawak Campaign”  said STB Chief Executive Officer, Sharzede Datu Haji Salleh Askor after a destination briefing session which was attended by 15 Dutch operators and media partners here yesterday.

“I am glad we could offer a concrete proposal to the operators such as Fox Verre Reizen, Pangea Travel and Sawadee Reizen”, said Sharzede and adding that the agents are ready to go big time in Sarawak.

“What interests them is the destination that features responsible tourism and Sarawak has it, keeping to its theme as the destination that offers culture, adventure, nature, food and festival”, she added.

Sharzede admitted that “Sarawak has lost its ‘visibility’ in the Dutch market in the past years but we are determined to move in and partner these agents leveraging on the Visit Sarawak Campaign”, she explained.

“Yes, the arrival numbers were down, especially after the airline tragedy of 2014 when we lost the direct flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and that had affected the business of the Dutch operators” added Sharzede.

“After meeting the operators today, we are confident that we will be make inroads with our proposal offered to these operators to partner them in their promotional effort in the Netherlands”, she explained.

“What excites our Dutch partners are the new product experiences that we now have, including the central region and also the newly rejuvenated products like the Old Kuching Heritage Trail”.

“The Dutch have their ‘Kanaal’ and we too have canals in Mukah and these product similarities especially in the central region have aroused interests among our Dutch partners, giving us an opportunity to connect closely with them”, enthused Sharzede.

What we do now is ensure that these operators are shown and are able to experience the new products first hand, with familiarization trips organised by the Board partnering with local agents, she said.

Sharzede, who was joined by Rosni Mamat, First Secretary to the Embassy of Malaysia at The Hague, expressed high hopes in revitalising the Dutch-speaking markets, acknowledging that the destination product compatibility would take the Sarawak tourism industry to greater heights.

From the series of engagements we had with the Dutch operators, we believe the Dutch tourists look for experiential tourism and also choose destinations that subscribe to the principles of responsible tourism and as such Sarawak could leverage of these standards and values to position itself among the favoured destination in the region, she added.

Calling on the local industry partners to be industrious in churning out more tourism products and packages to remain competitive and be relevant, Sharzede was of the opinion that the long haul market of the Benelux will continue to be the main supplier of tourists in the coming years.

Meanwhile, both Product Managers from Fox Verre Reizen and Sawadee Reizen had also expressed their interests to do a familiarization trip to Sarawak in order for them to have a first-hand experience of the destination whereas the Product Manager of Pangea Travel had, indicated his intention to include the Central Region as a new product in their promotional catalogue.

STB is on a week-long tourism promotion mission to Finland and Holland to attend the MATKA Travel Fair in Helsinki and also conducted destination briefing and partners’ engagement session in Amsterdam with local Sarawak partners.

The mission was supported by Tourism Malaysia’s office at The Hague.

While in Helsinki on Tuesday, the STB delegation were guests at the office of the Malaysian Embassy’s First Secretary, Norhalilah Abdul Jalil.

Norhalilah (left) with Sharzede at her office.

 

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Travel to Melaka

MELAKA CABLE CAR TO BE READY BY END 2018

MELAKA: The state will get its
first cable car as well as a
theme park by the end of this
year, said its Chief Minister
Datuk Seri Idris Haron.

He said the project called
“Seven Mini Wonders” cost
RM46mil and the cable car
would run across the Marina
in Pulau Melaka to Klebang
here.

He said the 2.5km cable car
line was proposed to run
overhead at certain busy
locations overlooking the
Straits of Malacca.

“The project will complement
other new tourism products
that have also been planned
for this year,” he said after
chairing the weekly exco
meeting at Seri Negeri here.

“The theme park will be
strategically located and the
whole project aims to attract
even more tourists to the state,”
he said, adding that it would
help boost the state’s image as 
a family-oriented holiday
destination.

Idris said the state’s objective
was to draw more tourists and
record higher arrivals in 2018
than last year.

“The state is looking at the
cable car and theme park
project as an economic driver
to lure more tourists.

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Malaysia Travel Guide

Enhancing Tourist Maps In Collaboration With Local Institutions

Enhancing Tourist Maps In Collaboration With Local Institutions

Kuching, Thursday – Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) is in collaboration with Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak (PKS) to enhance the tourist maps for Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri through the Kenyalang Creative Map Competition (KCMC).

KCMC jointly organised by Land Surveyors Board Sarawak (LSBS), HERE Malaysia Sdn Bhd, The Association of Consulting Licensed Land Surveyors Sarawak (ACLS) and Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RSIM) aimed at giving students to be creative in producing maps.

KCMC was organised from August 1 to 31 and was opened to students from Polytechnics, universities and colleges in Malaysia. 73 maps submission were received from students of Ungku Omar Polytechnic (PUO), Ipoh; Geomatika College, Kuala Lumpur (IPTS); Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah Polytechnic (PTSB), Kulim; Merlimau Polytechnic (PMM), Melaka; Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur Branch and two Sarawak’s Polytechnics – Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak (PKS) and Metro Betong Polytechnic, Sarawak.

Out of 73 maps received, 21 were Kuching maps, 10 Sibu, 13 Bintulu and 29 Miri maps.

A pre-selection was done last week by the panel of judges before the final round which was held last Wednesday.

Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak (PKS) won all the four categories for the Kuching, Sibu,  Bintulu and Miri maps. Each winning team took home RM600.00 in cash, plaque and certificate for each participant in the team.

The prizes were presented by Lt. Kol. Bersekutu (PA) Kamaludin Daud, Director of Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak (PKS).

The collaboration with PKS has given good opportunities for participating students to gain more knowledge about tourism products in Sarawak specifically in Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.

Map Judging

Issued by:

Communications Unit
SARAWAK TOURISM
T: +6 082-423600  F: +6 082-416700
E: [email protected]

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Malaysia Travel Guide

Enhancing Tourist Maps In Collaboration With Local Institutions

Enhancing Tourist Maps In Collaboration With Local Institutions

Kuching, Thursday – Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) is in collaboration with Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak (PKS) to enhance the tourist maps for Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri through the Kenyalang Creative Map Competition (KCMC).

KCMC jointly organised by Land Surveyors Board Sarawak (LSBS), HERE Malaysia Sdn Bhd, The Association of Consulting Licensed Land Surveyors Sarawak (ACLS) and Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia (RSIM) aimed at giving students to be creative in producing maps.

KCMC was organised from August 1 to 31 and was opened to students from Polytechnics, universities and colleges in Malaysia. 73 maps submission were received from students of Ungku Omar Polytechnic (PUO), Ipoh; Geomatika College, Kuala Lumpur (IPTS); Tuanku Sultanah Bahiyah Polytechnic (PTSB), Kulim; Merlimau Polytechnic (PMM), Melaka; Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur Branch and two Sarawak’s Polytechnics – Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak (PKS) and Metro Betong Polytechnic, Sarawak.

Out of 73 maps received, 21 were Kuching maps, 10 Sibu, 13 Bintulu and 29 Miri maps.

A pre-selection was done last week by the panel of judges before the final round which was held last Wednesday.

Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak (PKS) won all the four categories for the Kuching, Sibu,  Bintulu and Miri maps. Each winning team took home RM600.00 in cash, plaque and certificate for each participant in the team.

The prizes were presented by Lt. Kol. Bersekutu (PA) Kamaludin Daud, Director of Kuching Polytechnic Sarawak (PKS).

The collaboration with PKS has given good opportunities for participating students to gain more knowledge about tourism products in Sarawak specifically in Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.

Map Judging

Issued by:

Communications Unit
SARAWAK TOURISM
T: +6 082-423600  F: +6 082-416700
E: [email protected]

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