Sarawak Economic Development Corporation

KUCHING: One of the main focuses of the Tourism Ministry is the Harmonious Tourism (Pelancongan Muhibbah) package which is meant to attract high-spenders from Brunei, says Assistant Minister of Tourism Datuk Talib Zulpilip.

“Since we are able to offer extremely reasonable rate of international star-rated hotels, we can work on this advantage.

“We can promote the (harmonious tourism) package such as family gatherings to be held in Sarawak where family members who are spread across the three entities of Brunei, Sarawak and Kalimantan can meet  and have a good time,” he said yesterday.

Talib also said their three main emphases for this year would be: to attract a large number of high spenders; to ensure that Sarawak becomes a preferred tourist destination; and to make sure that the premium tourists would have an enjoyable experience.

“It is extremely important to ensure that the tourists enjoy a pleasant experience here, from the airport until their hotel.

Talib, who is also the Chairman of Sarawak SEDC, said that immigration officers, taxi drivers, and hoteliers all play a part in ensuring that tourists have a good first impression of the state.

“All immigration counters must be opened at all times to ensure that the tourists do not have to wait too long, and that taxi drivers must be trained to properly handle tourists. Our taxi drivers are not bad but they can be better,” he said.

On the hotel standard in Sarawak, Talib said that it was basically the same as other hotels in the world. He also urged the media not to sensationalise crimes such as snatching and robberies as they could have an adverse effect on the tourism industry.

“Tourism is a people-sensitive industry which could be easily affected by negative news reports. Many countries popular with tourists also have high rate of crimes but they don’t sensationalise them,” he said.

On the issue of church torching, Talib called for a stop to such irresponsible actions. He said this was the work of a few and did not reflect the overall Muslim community in the country.

“Religious insensitivity can cause a lot of problems,” Talib said, adding that the opposition parties should not capitalise on the issue as Sarawak had always been very tolerant of religious issues.