By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, Dec 13: Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) has planned an exciting calendar of events for 2022 with responsible tourism being the principle of its tourism activities.
Tourism, Arts and Culture (MTAC) Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the Board has already laid on the table nine Sarawak Product Experience trips next year.
“Watch out for the next launch of Sia Sitok Sarawak 3.0 and Sia Sitok Sarawak Accommodation 2.0 next year with even more exciting deals for visitors to enjoy.
“We will continue with our outreach programmes to the local communities and homestays and continue to organise capacity-building workshops to empower them and expand their skillsets,” he said when attending the STB Media Night held at a local hotel in Kuching tonight.
Abdul Karim further said the media play an important role in bolstering Sarawak’s visibility as a destination of choice for ecotourism.
“With us shifting our focus more to domestic tourism these two years, we have come up with our very own homegrown brands namely Sia Sitok Sarawak and Sia Sitok Sarawak Accommodation and received overwhelming responses with over 800 tour packages sold and over 8,000 rooms booked.
“Your (media) stories and images have positively influenced our local visitors to appreciate and explore their own backyard even more,” he added.
Abdul Karim also mentioned that among Sarawak’s tourism success stories amidst the Covid-19 pandemic were the successful organisation of the iconic Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) and Borneo Jazz Festival (BJF) events.
“Despite being held virtually this year, RWMF has garnered a total of 402,865 viewers covering 79 countries worldwide while BJF has garnered 244,637 viewers from 43 countries.
“To top it off, these two iconic events have been recognised for our sustainability efforts and was named ‘One To Watch’ by WTM (World Travel Market) Responsible Tourism Awards 2021,” he pointed out.
Amongst those present were the Ministry’s permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee, STB chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor and Kuching Division Journalist Association (KDJA) chairman Ronnie Teo. — DayakDaily
