Friday, April 01, 2011

Australians told to explore Brunei's magical eco-tourism

By Azlan Othman in Melbourne, Australia

"Brunei is a wonderful place and has a warm relationship with Victoria. Brunei offers some magical opportunities in eco-tourism especially with its unspoilt pristine jungle compared to many other tourist destinations around the world.

"It becomes the Sultanate's principality and Australians are well known for their interests in eco-tourism. We hope Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) has a very successful fly in the sky for many years to come," said Bruce Atkinson, President of the Legislative Council and state member of Eastern Metropolitan region in a speech to senior government officials from Brunei Darussalam marking RBA's inaugural flight to Melbourne.

"We are always delighted to welcome a new airline to Victoria.

"We have better airports in Australia. Melbourne is clearly one of the most important gateways to Australia. Victoria is an important state for Australia particularly in food manufacturing which is of interest to Brunei and increasingly to tourism. One of the interesting aspects about tourism is Victoria has no natural wonders like some other states have.

"A lot has been said about our shopping and the Formula One Grand Prix which was held last week and many other sporting, convention programmes and cultural activities.

"We are very fortunate to bring many people to Australia through Melbourne. When we have another opportunity to bring another airline, Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) to Melbourne, RBA passengers find it convenient to go to Australia via Melbourne, as a gateway to Australia.

"We see opportunities for more Australians and more visitors from other parts of the world to Australia looking at RBA as an alternative to go and perhaps experience Brunei, which is a terrific opportunity. RBA is the 27th airline to come into Melbourne and effectively puts around another 120,000 international seats into Melbourne each year as RBA flies four times a week.

"I think it is going to be an effective and successful route for RBA and a bridge to many events perhaps like exports and trade opportunities and in working with the Brunei government, its agencies and companies particularly in Halal branding," he said.

"There are terrific markets out there for Australian food and beverage manufacturers to try and match in business through the export market. Certainly Halal endorsement is a very significant marketing tool worldwide. With us working to some extent with Malaysia and now with Brunei Darussalam to extend their Halal brand in food, it certainly gives a good opportunity," he added.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
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