KUCHING, May 10: The Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) launched its online data management platform, STB InTel and an e-learning platform with Lotus Voyager Group (LVG) as part of STB’s ongoing efforts to digitalise the tourism industry.
These data-based initiatives will further enhance Sarawak’s destination visibility globally and position STB as an organisation moving forward in ‘smart tourism’ with Sarawak tourism stakeholders, in line with the Sarawak’s government’s digital transformation agenda.
Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah launched the digital initiatives with ministry permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee and STB chief executive officer (CEO) Sharzede Datu Salleh Askor at Bangunan Bailtulmakmur today.
During his speech, Abdul Karim said STB InTel would provide another component in Sarawak’s digital tourism strategies.
He said the government to business (G2B) data-sharing initiative would enable ministry and tourism industry stakeholders to leverage the data compiled from government agencies and tourism websites, in addition to Google Analytics, to monitor the effectiveness of tourism strategies, identify new key opportunities and create new initiatives and policy recommendations in the near future.
“A data sharing platform such as STB InTel will help ensure a cohesiveness between the public and private sector as we work together to create more informed strategies and develop more targeted products,” he added.
On the partnership with LVG, Sarawak is the first in Malaysia to utilise the world’s first learning management system at the B2B level to connect and collaborate with tourism professionals worldwide to create more visibility for Sarawak as a preferred tourist destination.
“Since the onboarding of these modules in early April, there are currently 1,346 outbound tour operators in the region who are ready to enrol in the course.
“We are expecting over 10,000 selective travel agents to be trained under the course by year-end.
“The programme will assign 1,000 new users for the course every month with promotions lined up in India, the Nordic market, and the UK in the months to come,” he said.
He praised STB for this effort and that he looked forward to more digital transformation initiatives that will increase the tourism sector’s efficiencies and productivity.
Meanwhile, Sharzede was confident that the e-learning platform would provide the relevant information on promoting Sarawak to international travel tour operators, especially LVG’s current subscribers from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Under this initiative, five modules on Sarawak’s Culture, Adventure, Nature, Food and Festivals (CANFF) have been created to highlight the wonders of Sarawak.
The modules will take participants through a detailed tour of Sarawak and make Sarawak a priority when it comes to promoting preferred destinations. — DayakDaily
