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.

Continue reading at: Visitors At New York Travel Show Enamoured With Orang Utan and Borneo
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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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YTL to open resorts in Pulau Gaya and Pulau Tiga

Adding to its collection of five hotels and six resorts located across Asia, YTL Hotels, a Malaysian conglomerate, announced plans to expand its current portfolio to include the MUSE in Saint-Tropez, France, and the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai, China.

The MUSE, opening June 2010, sits in the gorgeous sun-drenched Provencal landscape on Ramatuelle ‘Route des Plages’, mere minutes away from the Place des Lices. This intimate retreat will feature 14 elegant suites, all with gardens and of which 9 have private pool. Incorporating the very best of France from custom-made furniture designed by Henryot especially for the MUSE, to the fabrics selected from the Parisian house Pierre Frey.

Other new developments include Pulau Gaya and Pulau Tiga in Borneo. A deluxe rainforest family resort looking out to Mount Kinabalu, Pulau Gaya is surrounded by pristine white sand beaches, sheltered coral reefs and protected mangroves. Just off the coast of Kota Kinabalu, this adventure packed resort will integrate elements of traditional Sabahan (native of Sabah) architecture and feature 132 spacious stand alone hill and sea-front villas and a unique spa village.

About 48 kilometers south of Kota Kinabalu lies Pulau Tiga. Famed for its volcanic mud pools, exotic wildlife, coral reefs and protected marine life, Pulau Tiga is a haven for nature, adventure and water enthusiasts. This intimate hideaway will feature 65 sea-front luxury one and two bedroom villas, each with private plunge pools. Both resorts in Borneo will open 2011.

Continue reading at: YTL to open resorts in Pulau Gaya and Pulau Tiga
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Sabah won’t cull its wildlife

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s wildlife such as the Borneo elephant will never be culled despite the increase in the cases of human-wildlife conflict in the state, said state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

He said Sabah has sufficient forests to provide adequate habitat for the animals.

He, however, acknowledged that the existing forest habitat for these animals were too fragmented and corridors connecting these areas needed to be planned.

“We have enough forest reserves to accommodate these animals and for them to multiply. It is now a question of allowing them movement between these areas,” he told The Star yesterday amid a warning that human-wildlife conflicts were on the increase.

Masidi said one of the main obstacles to these “wildlife corridors” connecting the fragmented forests was that much of the land needed was now privately-owned and had to be acquired through various private initiatives such as the Borneo Conservation Trust.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Sabah won’t cull its wildlife
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