KUCHING, July 14: Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) has launched its inaugural Sarawak Tourism virtual product update (B2B) today.
From July 14 to 15, the two day event aims to provide a platform for 30 sellers, mainly from Sarawak’s travel and tour services sector, to connect with over 200 buyers from Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.
The buyers will have direct access to sellers’ company brochures, list of tour images, and a brief description of their company’s profile.
Apart from that, the B2B platform also includes features such as chat and video calls to allow buyers and sellers to exchange ideas and also set up an appointment for tourism-related plans in the near future.
STB Chief Executive Officer Sharzede Salleh Askor in a statement said this is their latest effort in its ongoing mission to position Sarawak as a prime destination for culture, adventure, nature, food and festival (CANFF) destination, especially in preparation when the domestic tourism industry reopens.
“I hope that participants will take full advantage of the Sarawak tourism virtual update and gain a perfect market fit or even formularise a new tourism product strategy in anticipation of a post-pandemic future.
“Virtual updates offer not only a solution to a problem but an opportunity for growth. Although buyers may not be meeting sellers in person, virtual events offer a host of other advantages. Through virtual events, sellers and buyers will have the opportunity to have more meaningful conversations, the chance to broaden their reach into untapped markets as well as being able to follow up more effectively on potential clients and sellers,” Sharzede added.
Meanwhile, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah who officiated the event, which was launched virtually, said this was an opportunity for all tourism stakeholders to realign their efforts to recover from a decelerated tourism industry in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.
“I am certain that this will be a very fruitful event for those who are attending a Sarawak Tourism virtual product update. For those of us who are familiar with Sarawak tourism, it is an opportunity to deepen our working relationships and help to innovate Sarawak’s tourism products on the national landscape,” Abdul Karim said.
Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, STB has initiated other campaigns to support the local tourism sector such as the Sia Sitok Sarawak campaign, Sarawak Tourism Online Ecosystem Fund and the Visitors Incentive Package (VIP) incentives. — DayakDaily
