Rafiq (seated second left, Zaki (seated third left, Richie (seated third right) and Sani (seated second right) with the members of AlmaCrest Backpackers Student Club.
KOTA KINABALU: AlmaCrest International College yesterday officially launched a student backpacker club, believed to be the first in Malaysia.
The club, AlmaCrest Backpackers Student Club, under the assistance of Sabah Backpacker Operators Association, aims to learn the full perspective of tourism industry in Sabah.
President of Sabah Backpacker Operators Association, Richie Lee said backpacking was one of the best ways for students to see the real world, as they would be learning a lot of things.
“Learning from experiences shared by backpackers from the European countries, they started their journey in their own place before going abroad. This is what we want to encourage to this newly- set up club.
“Since most of the members in this club are doing tourism and hospitality courses, backpacking is an activity that can improve their knowledge about their own place, and it will be easier for them to sell our tourism products to the tourists.
“They need to be prepared before jumping into the real business in the future,” said Richie.
He stressed backpacking is the best platform to develop personal abilities and always improve communication skills.
“I must admit that most of our students today lack communication skills, while their product knowledge is also limited.
“Next year, our association, with the help of Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Sabah office and Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia (Motac) Sabah office will be taking students for a field trip where they will be introduced into the backpacking world.
“The club members will be doing all the planning, and try to manage the whole journey,” he added.
Richie also encouraged more students to form more backpacker clubs in the future.
Earlier, (Motac) Sabah office Director Ag Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar and Director of Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Sabah office Sani Sham Ahmad presented working papers on their role in the tourism industry.
Both Zaki and Sani congratulated AlmaCrest Backpackers Student Club and Sabah Backpacker Operators Association for making the effort to set up the club.
They also encouraged more higher learning institutions in the state to form a backpacker club in universities or colleges.
Also present was the college’s Chief Executive Mohamed Rafiq Ghazali.