Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Tourism players told to promote Kuching as holiday destination


By Magdalene Rogers

KUCHING - Sarawak Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud urged tourism players in the state to speak up in order to promote Sarawak's tour packages more effectively and to give tourists the unique opportunity to know the beauty of the state.

He said that the importance of good accessibility as well as skilled workforce would entice more tourists to come to the State and enhance the eco-tourism packages that are only unique to the East Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah.

"We have to project our own image because the tourist attractions throughout Malaysia are not the same. Perhaps Sabah and Sarawak can share the same (promoting) strategy but we cannot share the same strategy with Penang or Malacca because we are just different," he said at the Sarawak Hornbill Tourism Appreciation Awards 2006 here Monday night.

Taib added that if Sarawak, with its highest number of repeat visitors, "can assemble the state's attractions and present sufficient information to the tourists then we can have a product that we can sell."

"The state must sell the idea of selling 'broad-lateral tourism' where the attractions are in the rural areas and where nature is at its best, where cultural practice is well-preserved, where there are a lot of animals and plants to show to tourists," he said.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

No comments: