By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Feb 21: Kuching Park Hotel has been revamped into a smart and digital hotel, making it the first in Sarawak to offer a host of conveniences that will allow guests to enjoy their stay with a self-check-in and check-out facility and a mobile app for booking, getting room numbers as well as accessing rooms by scanning.
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah congratulated the hotel for being the “pioneer” in using smart initiatives and digital technology offer empowerment, greater convenience and accessibility for visitors coming to Sarawak.
“The tourism industry in Sarawak and Malaysia, in general, are now experiencing an uptrend in visitors’ arrival. This is good news for our industry players, including local hoteliers who must leverage the expected influx of domestic and foreign tourists.
“Sarawak is targeting to receive three million visitors this year (2023). Looking at the trend in January 2023 and the events planned month to month, we are confident that we will be able to surpass the target this year,” he said when launching the Kuching Park Hotel — the First Smart and Digital Hotel at Jalan Padungan here today.
Commending Kuching Park Hotel for setting the pace and getting ahead of the rest, Abdul Karim emphasised that such initiatives are important in securing a resilient and sustainable tourism industry that is ready to face future challenges or any crisis head-on.
“We must be able to face any adversities, including the dreaded (Covid-19) pandemic, if the mitigating factors are well in place.
“There is a need for our tourism industry players to move forward faster by capitalising on technological innovations which will take all of us to the next level of the digital age. It is imperative because such a leap of fate will create employment opportunities and develop new innovative sub-sectors,” he added.
Abdul Karim pointed out that embarking on the Smart Tourism strategy under Malaysia’s National Tourism Policy (NTP) is the way forward as the country’s revenue is projected to increase fourfold from the current USD25 billion to USD110 billion by 2030.
“In the competitive business world, it is important for us to be innovative and creative, giving us the edge over the competitors. It also increases your market share, generates profits and helps solve problems by providing the best customer experience.
“As Sarawakians, we have the role to play in wooing visitors to our homeland and providing them with the best stay and holiday experience in Sarawak. The tourism sector will continue to provide us with another source of income for industry players, and most importantly, it will also create job opportunities for our local folks in the foreseeable future,” he added.
To give opportunities for local and foreign visitors an experience the latest smart features at Kuching Park Hotel, the management is offering the “Discover Kuching Park” promotion with special rates starting from as low as RM100 nett inclusive of breakfast for one person when booking via the “Hello World Rewards” Apps.
This promotion offers rooms at RM115 nett inclusive of breakfast for one when bookings are made via the hotel’s website.
Deputy Minister of Tourism Datuk Sebastian Ting, Deputy Minister of Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Snowdan Lawan, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor, Kuching Park Hotel director Wong Liong Mew and its general manager Mason Tang were among those present. — DayakDaily
