KUCHING: Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) features ‘Adventure in Conservation’ as the key selling point for tourism promotion at the seventh edition of ITB Asia 2014.
The tourism trade event was held at Marina Bay Sands Exhibition and Convention Centre in Singapore from Oct 29 to 31.
The eleven key conservation programmes are designed to enhance understanding of tropical ecosystems, wildlife and biodiversity as well as to raise awareness of environment and conservation in Sarawak to potential buyers at the industry trade session, according to STB through a press release recently.
The Adventure in Conservation packages consist of Sea Turtle Conservation, Heart2Heart with Orangutan, Orangutan Junior Volunteer Programme, Junior Wildlife Ranger, Semenggoh Ecotour, Matang Wildlife Education tour, Kubah Ecotour, Plant a Tree Conservation Programme, Swiftlets Conservation, Orangutan Adoption and Turtle Adoption.
Eco-Tourism products are not new to Sarawak but in collaboration with Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), Sarawak combined some old and new conservation packages and made it more attractive. The eco-tourism packages offered was fascinating, consisting of unique and totally hands-on programs, educational programs, eco-tours and wildlife encounters.
ITB Asia is a very important market that contributes to the development of global tourism and being a key meeting point for all those advancing the tourism sector in Asia and the Pacific.
However, during this event, a frequently highlighted issue was the impending Malaysian Good and Services Tax (GST) implementation and its impact on tourism costs in Sarawak.
This makes the challenge for Sarawak tour agents especially more pronounced when promoting to buyers new to Sarawak and pricing is one of the deciding factors when competing with neighbouring destinations that offer similar tourism experiences to Sarawak.
In its bid to increase awareness of Sarawak’s niche products, STB continued to promote Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE), as well as culture, adventure and nature based products at the pavilion.
The delegation from Sarawak was headed by STB director of marketing Benedict Jimbau and marketing manager (Singapore & Domestic) Kevin Nila.
Joining STB to promote Sarawak at ITB Asia were 11 members of the Travel industry; Borneo Adventure Tours, Planet Borneo Tours, Greatown Travel, Straits Central, CPH Travel Services, Kuching Holidays, Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, and Sarawak Convention Bureau.
ITB Asia was organised by Messe Berlin (Singapore) Pte Ltd in cooperation with Singapore Tourism Board. It enabled all tourism partners to gain deeper insights into the Asian travel network with new business partners from the region. The event featured more than 500 exhibiting companies from Asia Pacific region, Europe, Middle East, USA and Africa covering leisure and corporate markets as well as MICE.