SEEKING NEW AREAS OF COOPERATION: Masagos (second left) having a conversation with Lee (left) while Ting (third left) and another look on.
MIRI: More Singaporeans could well be on their way here to spend their holidays if the city is well promoted in the island republic.
“Singaporeans might already know and heard about Miri but it has not been well promoted there,” its Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli said during a dialogue session with Miri Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries here yesterday.
He added that Miri had the potential to attract more tourists from Singapore if it were well promoted in the republic under its ‘prosper thy neighbour’ concept.
“Last year, we received 14 million high-end tourists who stayed for up to five days. And, under the ‘prosper thy neighbour’ concept, the Singapore Tourism Promotional Board and local tour agents have a package that combines Singapore with other destination nearby such as Bali and Jakarta in Indonesia and Sabah,” he added.
Mulu and Miri could be included in the package, he added, “if the local tourism players have the initiative to work with Singapore Tourism Promotional Board and tour and travel agents there”.
“Under the concept, we complement and not to compete with each other. I believe we can apply the same concept to promote Miri to Singapore and beyond,” said Masagos, who was impressed with the warm hospitality and friendliness shown by the people here.
He also gave the thumbs up to the city’s (Miri) cleanliness.
According to Masagos again, there were many segment of tourists they could tap into apart from the high-end tourists.
Singapore’s Ministry of Education has a programme for students, which allows them to tour other countries at least once in their 10 years of study.
“The government gives subsidy to parents who could afford the trip while those in the lower income bracket would be fully sponsored,” Masagos said, adding that Singapore had about 500,000 students in any one school year.
He thus said it was high time that the tourism players here and in Sarawak in general to really promote and sell Miri in Singapore.
He also extended an invitation to tour and travel agent agents here and Miri Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries to participate in the (Singapore) National Tour and Travel Trade Fair back which was usually held in June and December each year.
“The trade fair always received good response not only from Singaporeans but also tourists and visitors to Singapore. This is one good opportunity for the industry players here to take part in,” he added.
The minister and entourage are here on a six-day visit to Sarawak and Brunei beginning Sunday to affirm the republic’s strong relations with the two countries and explore new areas of cooperation. Their three-day visit to Sarawak ended yesterday.
Also present at the dialogue session were Miri Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industries chairman Pemanca Lee Sie Tong and Dato Sebastian Ting.