Flights start at RM9 on AirAsia ‘Big Sale’ offer

Travellers can get flights for as low as RM9 one way during AirAsia’s “Big Sale” promotion this week.

All destinations apply from March 3 to 7, with domestic destinations like Penang, Langkawi, Terengganu, Johor Baru and Kota Baru priced from RM9 one-way.

Visitors can head to Kuching for RM29 and to Kota Kinabalu for RM49 one-way. For international flights, Austra­lian destinations such as Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth start at RM149 one-way, while a ticket to London is going for RM699.

To enjoy the discounts, passengers must book their trip between March 3 and 7 for travel between Sept 25 this year and Feb 13 next year.

Meanwhile, business and industry circles in northern Sarawak are disappointed that AirAsia had terminated direct flights from Miri to Singapore from Monday, saying this disrupted important business and tourism linkages.

Continue reading at: Flights start at RM9 on AirAsia ‘Big Sale’ offer
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Sabah Tourism Upcoming Event: Kota Kinabalu City Run 2010

Date: 07 March 2010

The Kota Kinabalu City Run 2010 will be held on 7 March at the Merdeka Field in conjunction with the 10th City Day Celebration.

The total distance for the run is 4 kilometers and runners hitting the finish line in under one hour will qualify for a lucky draw.

100 attractive prizes are up for grabs! The flag-off will be at 6am and no registration is required.

For details, contact Jainab Saidi (KK City Hall) at +60 88 521800.

Source: Sabah Tourism

NOTE: Photo Copyright to Sabah Tourism
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Sabah Tourism Upcoming Event: Local Handicraft Demonstration at Monsopiad

Date: 6 March 2010

On 6 March, be sure to block your calendars and make time for the Local Handicraft Demonstration which will be held at the Monsopiad Cultural Village from 8am to 5pm.

This demonstration will feature various colourful and enticing artworks produced by the ethnic people of Sabah.

For info, contact the organizer at +60 88 7613336 / 774337, fax to +60 88 761680, e-mail info@monsopiad.com or visit www.monsopiad.com.

Source: Sabah Tourism

NOTE: Photo Copyright to Sabah Tourism
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Visitors At New York Travel Show Enamoured With Orang Utan and Borneo

Against a backdrop of the popular wildlife documentary 'Orang Utan Island' shown on American television, visitors to the Malaysian and Indonesian booths at the ongoing three-day New York Times Travel Show displayed a marked interest in Borneo wildlife, particularly the primate.

The show, touted by the New York Times as one of the largest trade and consumer travel shows in the USA, saw participants from Asean countries, notably Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Tourism Malaysia's New York office had set up a stand with four tour operators to jointly participate in the show held at the Javits Convention Center.

"Yes, wildlife tourism is an interesting aspect of tourism promotion in the United States. And interest in the orang utan has risen sharply. This view was also echoed by Indonesian exhibitors at the show," Mohamad Taib, the vice-president at the New York office of Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board told Bernama.

Although the show is much smaller than Berlin International Tourism Bourse (ITB) -- the world's biggest tourism fair which begins from March 5 in the German capital and attracts nearly 100 Malaysian delegates -- the New York show has gradually established itself as an important platform on the east coast for tour operators, travel agents and others connected with the industry to interact with one another.

According to Taib, tourist arrivals from the United States in 2007 increased 17.5 per cent to 20.97 million, up from 17.55 million in the previous year.

"In recent times, we have seen a revival of tourism to Malaysia after the slump, following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks," he said.

Malaysia pitches for ecology and adventure tourism, with packages offered for Borneo, Sabah and Langkawi's beaches being favourites with many foreign tourists.

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Brunei's own tour guide association 'in the works'

Work to establish a tourist guide association in the country is underway, and it is hoped that it could be registered by this year before Brunei applies for membership to the World Federation of Tour Guide Association (WFTGA), a tourism official said yesterday.

The relevant authority will also be stepping in to regulate tour guide activities through a licensing system to be implemented in future. Currently, the country only has the Brunei Association of Travel Agents.

As the tourism industry in Brunei is still in its early stages of development, a growing number of tour guides in the country believe that an establishment of such an association would create new winds for them to sail further.

The work of tour guides, in the words of Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohamed, the CEO of the Brunei Tourism Board, “can make or break a holiday.”

“Therefore, it is important for the tour guides to be professionally trained,” the tourism chief said in an interview with the Bulletin yesterday.

Continue reading at: Brunei's own tour guide association 'in the works'
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