Monday, June 13, 2011

Sarawak’s budget river cruise making waves

KUCHING: Barely three-months in operation, a river cruise touted as the state first-ever budget cruise is raising eyebrows among established cruise operators.

Wholly-owned by Koperasi Lan Berambeh Sungai Bedilku Kuching Berhad, a cooperative operated by a Malay village located in Kuching City, it is now eyeing to expand its appeal in the domestic and international markets.

The cooperative’s chairman Zamahari Saidi said among the winning features of the cruise since it started operations in March were affordability and flexibity factors.

“We are charging as low as RM15 per person and if they want a river cruise together with beverages, then it will be RM35 per person for a one-and-a-half hour trip,” he told Bernama here yesterday.

Zamahari said the cruise offered flexibility as passengers could request to be picked up at any river jetty as long as it was on the route.

He said the popularity of the cruise was fast catching up as the number of passengers has risen from a total of 330 passengers in March to 347 in April and 589 in May.

He said the 70-feet-long and 10 feet wide wooden cruise boat cost about RM120,000, had a 24-horsepower Yanmar engine and could accommodate 40 passengers and a crew of five.

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