SARAWAK Tourism and Heritage Minister yesterday called for stronger collaboration between Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak, stressing packaging Borneo as a joint destination is a "win-win situation".
Dato Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan said this during his speech at the opening of the first-ever Sarawak Travel Fair 2010 organised by Tourism Malaysia at The Mall yesterday.
He said tourists will have a long list of things to see when visiting all three places in around seven days.
"There is a lot of synergy there and tourists can see Southeast Asia's tallest mountain, the richest Sultanate in the world and one of the biggest caves in the three respective destinations," he said.
Dato Patinggi Dr Chan, who is also deputy chief minister of Sarawak, said he looks forward to working with Brunei especially national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines which has been bringing in a lot of tourists into Borneo.
"Now, there is a new bus which is a real breakthrough and has improved the connectivity for the region. We are thankful for the cooperation from the Brunei government and we will definitely honour our part to make sure Sabah and Sarawak will work to help Brunei," he said.
The minister also noted that anyone who comes into the region will see that it is a nice place to visit and called for the help of diplomats to assist in Borneo's tourism drive by promoting the region.
"As for Bruneian tourists into Malaysia, we are grateful as we value the Brunei dollar highly when spent in Malaysia. We hope to be able to promote Brunei from Sabah and Sarawak to see more Malaysians spending in Brunei as well," he added.
Earlier this year, Dato Patinggi Dr Chan said that Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei would perform better in tourism if they worked together to promote Borneo as a destination.
Sarawak's Assistant Minister of Tourism and Heritage Datuk Talib Zulpilip also said that industry players could move forward through goodwill tourism involving people in the two Malaysian states and Brunei. He said Sarawak's tourist agencies based in Limbang and Miri should be able to start off the goodwill tourism programme, due to their proximity to Brunei.The Brunei Times
Minister of Tourism and Heritage Sarawak, Dato Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan (R), with High Commissioner of Malaysia to Brunei Darussalam, Dato Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari (2nd R) receiving the memento from Bus Asia's Executive Director Henry Lai (2nd L), during the opening of the Sarawak Travel Fair 2010 held at The Mall, Gadong. Picture: BT/Zamri Zainal
Saturday, April 10, 2010
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