Brunei, M'sia in Islamic tourism tie

BRUNEI and Malaysia are working to develop the idea of Islamic tourism, Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Hj Yahya Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar yesterday said.

"We will have something in two weeks time or so, as we discussed with Malaysia and they are developing something of their own, while we develop something of our own," he told The Brunei Times on the sidelines of the Seventh State Legislative Council (LegCo) session.

"We call this the 'Islamic Trail of Civilisation' which will include Islamic countries in Asean like Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and maybe southern Thailand and Philippines," he said, adding that it will start first with Brunei and Malaysia.

He said that this could be part of the Islamic tour package, which would include Brunei's artefacts.

Islamic tourism, along with ecotourism, experiential tourism, research and so on, are what Pehin Dato Hj Yahya wants Brunei to focus on instead of just mass tourism.

"All these niche products, they bring in high-value tourists. These are people who appreciate nature, who want to study or want to experience something different like tasting our food or feeling the forest through home-stay programmes.

"They bring in higher values as compared to those of mass tourism which is why we are not looking towards that (mass tourism)," the minister said.

He said that with mass tourism, most people come and go after taking a quick look.

The MIPR is looking closely at arrival figures and tracking how much tourists spend here, which is translated into income.

"For 2010, we are looking at around $175 per person spent on average. We also saw a big increase of tourists from 2009 to 2010 while the target for 2011 is quite high. So it all depends on how much the tourists spend, that is our concern," stressed the minister, adding however, that it was equally important to have arrival figures and have tourists spend.

LegCo member Pehin Kapitan Lela Diraja Dato Paduka Goh King Chin said it was reported there were 190,000 to 200,000 tourist arrivals last year, adding he hoped that involved parties would find ways to encourage passengers in transit to stay in Brunei.

"Maybe Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) can offer their special packages with condition that travellers stay one or two nights in the country" to help boost the tourism industry, Pehin Dato Goh said.

In response, Pehin Dato Hj Yahya said that transit passengers do not really spend while waiting for their next flight.

"However, those who have enough time will be given the opportunity to feel Brunei and have a sense of what Brunei is out of the airport. This is done so that they have the urge to return next time and stay longer," said the minister.

Pehin Dato Hj Yahya added that they are working to improve as tourism contributes to the development of other sectors and other spin-off industries as well.

"With our rich forests, it will prove interesting to some as they hope to come, feel and experience our rainforests. This is the experiential tourism that I was referring to ... with Temburong, Belalong and national parks like the Berakas Forest Reserve and Sungai Ingai in Belait," he said. The Brunei Times