Thursday, February 09, 2017

Sarawak cultural troupes to perform at launch of Winter Olympics 2018 in South Korea


KUCHING: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak will send their cultural troupes to perform at the launch and promotion of the 2018 Winter Olympics at Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province, South Korea which begins on Feb 11.

The troupes comprising 10 dancers and four musicians will be in Pyeongchang from Feb 10 to 14 to perform Sarawak ethnic dances as part of the year-long promotion of the Olympics.

The delegation will be led by an officer from the Ministry, Mohd Rezza, and the troupes will perform on Feb 11 to gear up for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Assistant Minister for Arts and Culture Datuk John Sikie Tayai revealed that apart from joining the promotional launch of the Olympics, the cultural troupes’ participation is also to showcase Sarawak to South Koreans.

As a member of East-Asia Inter Regional Tourism Forum (Eatof), Sarawak has pledged to support the Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Festival, he said at a press conference at his ministry before handing over the state flag to the dance troupe leader here yesterday.

Eatof’s primary goal is to increase cooperation in tourism among countries in the region.

‘It is mainly to promote culture and exchange programmes (training and education in tourism sectors) among countries through cooperation in tourism,” he explained.

He hoped that participating and showcasing Sarawakian culture at Pyeongchang would encourage South Korean tourists to visit Sarawak.

In 2016, arrivals from South Korea numbered 8,726 – an increase of 9 per cent from 2015.

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