Matta to hold Apeco 2016 in Kuching

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Dayang Azizah (fourth left), Kon (fifth left), Dylan (second right), Benedict (right) and others pose for a photocall with Apeco 16 banner and brochures.

Dayang Azizah (fourth left), Kon (fifth left), Dylan (second right), Benedict (right) and others pose for a photocall with Apeco 16 banner and brochures.

KUCHING: Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) will hold the 9th Asia Pacific Ecotourism Conference (Apeco) 2016 at Riverside Majestic Hotel here from Oct 21-23

With the theme ‘Creating Opportunities in Ecotourism’, the conference will feature a variety of relevant subjects presented by international and local speakers which are beneficial to the participants, mainly travel and tour operators, and also all stakeholders involved in the Eco-tourism industry, said organising chairperson Dayang Azizah Abg Zaidan.

“This is the second time Apeco is held in Sarawak. The three-day conference will cover seven topics from conservation to marketing strategies, and a Heart-2-Heart with Orang Utan field trip to Semenggoh Wildlife Centre. We target to have 300 delegates from Asia Pacific region and other countries,” she told a press conference at Matta Sarawak Chapter office here yesterday.

“We try not to make it conference-style but more of a field trip. The field trips are scheduled in the afternoon of the second and third day. Normal conferences will include indoor workshops but we want the delegates to experience what we have to offer in Sarawak.”

She said there would be 15 speakers with seven already confirmed while the rest would do so by next week. A Sarawak representative, Sarawak Forestry Corporation deputy general manager Oswald Braken Tisen will be presenting a talk on the environment.

The conference is supported by Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB), Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Tourism Malaysia.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem will declare open the conference while Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg will close it.

Dayang Azizah added that students were also welcomed to the conference, not just from Sarawak but from the whole of Malaysia. The conference is Human Resource Development Fund-claimable for Malaysian delegates only.

Registration is now open and can be done online at apeco.org.my.

Matta Sarawak Chapter chairman Chris Kon, STB director of Marketing Unit Benedict Jimbau and SCB director of Industry Development Dylan Redas Noel were also present at the press conference.