Italian tour operator vows to give Brunei a 'pizza di action'

BRUNEI has secured a section in a tour brochure designed by an Italian travel operator to help promote the Sultanate as a tourism destination in Italy.

This was shared by Director of Marketing and Promotion of Brunei Tourism Board Jean Christophe Robles Espinosa at the Travel Exchange (Travex) 2010 yesterday.

A proposal has been made for the brochure support and the wholesaler, who is a part of the Italian tour operator, is planning to start printing next week for Brunei Tourism to get the necessary materials ready, he said.

Espinosa told The Brunei Times that the arrangement would mainly target foreign independent travellers from long-haul markets.

"The brochure support should be distributed throughout Italy and this should maximise the exposure of the Sultanate in Italy," Espinosa said.

He added that Brunei had already been marketed and promoted by other tour agencies based in Italy, but the support should provide an increase in exposure.

"The brochure will have a Brunei section featuring the hotels available here (in Brunei), the tours and other things highlighting Brunei, he said.

He also said that the list of tours will include a balance of luxury, nature and culture with nature tours identified as among the must-dos in Brunei.

The Italian operators would then discuss and select their own ground-handler in Brunei on the land arrangement, Espinosa added.

"Our role is only to market Brunei, to suggest ideas on how to create itineraries and packages in Brunei and ensure that it could also be fitted into multi-destination packages," he explained.

He added that these types of arrangements should help increase the visibility of other destinations in the world, especially when it is being arranged by a tour operator which specialises in several Southeast Asia destinations.

"So when the bigger and more established tour operators see your country on the brochure, they are enticed to feature your country in their brochures as well, " he said.

"We see Brunei as a new and important destination, unique with its culture and tradition," said Gennaro Nardone, the managing director of Insight Borneo Incentive and Tours, one of the participating exhibitors at Travex 2010.

Based in Kota Kinabalu, the company is an active seller of Borneo destinations, including Brunei to the Italian market.

"I have my agents back in Italy and through their packages, we display Brunei's sightseeing tours, hotels and other information, he said, adding that he also promoted Brunei through his tour brochures and packages.

Gennaro said that Italian travellers were more interested to visit Borneo nowadays, thus making it a good opportunity for him to market the Sultanate at the same time.

The Brunei Times