By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, May 16: The Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and Tourism Malaysia, through its Brunei Darussalam office, have strengthened their strategic partnership to boost tourism promotion in Brunei, with a focus on lesser-known destinations such as Bintulu, Mukah, and Sibu.
According to the Sarawak Public Communication Unit (UKAS), the collaboration began with a familiarisation trip from May 14 to 17 involving 14 travel agents from Brunei.
Deputy Director of Tourism Malaysia Brunei Darussalam, Roshdi Abdul Ghani, said that his party fully supports STB’s initiative in organising this programme.
“It aims to promote strategic relations between tourism operators from the two countries as well as to design new tourism packages to Sarawak,” he said when met at an official reception at a hotel in Bintulu on Tuesday (May 13).
STB ASEAN and Domestic Marketing Director, Barbara Benjamin Atan, said Bintulu, Mukah, and Sibu were chosen due to their untapped potential among tourists from Brunei Darussalam.
“Usually, Bruneian tourists only choose Miri or Kuching. However, we would like to highlight that other destinations are also easily accessible and offer unique experiences such as shrimp fishing and visits to longhouses and local markets,” said Barbara.
She also emphasised that promoting Muslim-friendly destinations has become a key focus, aligning with the preferences of tourists from Brunei Darussalam and the broader ASEAN region.
“We want tourists to know that Sarawak not only offers halal food, but also clean and well-equipped prayer facilities,” she added,” she said.
During this visit, two social media influencers from Brunei Darussalam who are popular on TikTok and Instagram were also invited to cover the trip and promote Sarawak’s destinations on their respective platforms.
Roshdi added that Tourism Malaysia is also focusing on promoting ‘hidden gems’ such as Sibu, which will be hosting a dragon boat and speedboat race in July with participation from Brunei Darussalam.
In addition, the aspect of medical tourism was also touched upon as a new opportunity, especially in Miri, which borders the country.
“Hospitals such as KPJ and Borneo Medical Centre have great potential to attract patients from Brunei. We are working closely with the Malaysian Health Tourism Council (MHTC) for this purpose,” he explained.
Both parties expressed their commitment to continue strengthening this collaboration to achieve the target of five million visitors to Sarawak this year.
For the record, Brunei Darussalam is the fifth highest contributor to tourist arrivals to Malaysia in 2024, with over 1.14 million visitors, an increase of almost 40 per cent compared to the previous year. — DayakDaily
