Lee (left) presenting a memento to Gao after their meeting at the Heibei Tourism office.
KUCHING: Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and the Heibei Tourism Administration will jointly collaborate to open up more opportunities in the areas of tourism business in their respective state and province.
According to a press release, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed between the two tourism agencies to ensure that the cooperation be realised by September to prepare for the travelling season latest by November.
Amongst others, the MOU will pave way for joint marketing initiatives, facilitation of charter flights between the state and province, exploration of potential in the business of tourism and joint tourism-related development.
Assistant Minister of Tourism, Datuk Lee Kim Shin, who was delighted with the response from Heibei Tourism, said that the MOU will open up opportunities for Sarawak to tap into the fast-growing Chinese tourism market.
He expected that the MOU will give renewed hope for STB to enter the lucrative China market with Heibei as a stepping stone into nearby second and third-tier cities.
“We are currently working with Hong Kong Airlines to tap into the China market by leveraging on their connectivity to more than 20 cities in China which has been creating a great leap (forward) in our marketing direction especially in North Asia,” he said.
Lee is presently leading a five-member tourism delegation to Heibei and Wuhan provinces aimed at meeting representatives of China’s leading travel agencies and airline charter companies.
Yesterday, he met with Heibei Tourism Administration’s vice-general director Gao Guo Ming and senior officials from the Heibei Province Commission of Tourism Development, Heibei Airport Management Holdings, Heibei Airlines and tour operators.
On Monday, Lee also met with Tourism Malaysia (Beijing) director Noran Ujang before proceeding to Boa Ding to meet senior tourism officials from the Bao Ding Tourism Bureau.
The Sarawak tourism delegation will meet with the Wuhan Tourism Bureau today before proceeding back to Kuching on Friday.