SIBU, July 19: A Dayak Cultural Village needs to be set up to boost the tourism sector in this town.
Tamin assemblyman Christopher Gira said such an attraction would see tourists flocking to the town to see the diverse Dayak cultural products such as those of the Iban, Orang Ulu and Bidayuh communities.
“The Chinese community in Sibu has their own cultural village. It is time that the Dayak community has theirs also. I am optimistic that outsiders will be attracted to come here if we have this Dayak Cultural Village,” he said at the opening of the Dayak Borneo Cultural Festival last night.
Not only that, he said with the influx of tourists, airlines will be interested to commission international flights to this town.
“I hope Sibu can have more tourism products so that international flights, which the town has yet to have, will attract airlines to start operating one,” he said.
According to Christopher, besides the Borneo Cultural Festival, Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) in Kuching and Borneo Jazz Festival in Miri, there was a need for more events that could draw tourists to the State.
“As of January to June, a total of 530,000 tourists have been recorded entering Sarawak and the number is expected to increase to 1.2 million tourists when Brunei opens its border this August,” he envisaged.
Among those present were Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) Chairman Clarence Ting, Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) Organizing Committee Chairman and SMC Deputy Chairman Bujang Abdul Majid, community leaders Temenggong Stanley Gramong, Pemanca Mathew Ganggang, BDCF Organizing Committee Chairman Councilor Augustine Merikan and Dayak NGO leaders here. — DayakDaily
