Minister of Local Government and Housing, Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Douglas
Uggah Embas, Assistant Minister of Community Well Being, Datuk Francis Harden Hollis and Meradong State
Assemblyman, Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly (DUN) in Kuching.
KUCHING: Sarawak Tourism Ministry is studying the feasibility of improving accessibility to Mulu where Mulu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is located. Assistant Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Datuk Lee Kim Shin stated this in response to a question from Piasau Assemblyman, Datuk Sebastian Ting Chiew Yew, during the question and answer session at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) here yesterday.
The Mulu National Park, he added, had been a prime tourism product of Sarawak and was currently accessible by air via MASwings twice daily from Miri, four times weekly from Kuching, and also four times weekly from Kota Kinabalu.
“For those who are more adventurous, they can take the two-hour four wheel drive from Miri through Long Bedian to Long Terawan. From there, it takes another two hours’ longboat ride to reach Mulu,” explained Lee.
One of the tactical campaigns to promote Mulu National Park was to put Miri as one of the preferred destinations to visit.
“The campaign positions Miri and Mulu National Park as twin destinations. The campaign was launched in June last year with MASwings and a travel agent based in Miri, namely, Tropical Adventure Tours Sdn Bhd.
It is still ongoing, “Miri has also been chosen as a filming venue for a Chinese movie entitled “Blue Tears”; the movie highlights the unique attractions around Miri and part of the filming was also done in Mulu.
“Mulu was also promoted at the Brunei Travel Fair in Bandar Seri Begawan in September, 2017 under the Sarawak-Brunei Joint Tourism Working Group, the MATTA Fairs in Kuala Lumpur in March and September 2017 and the MATTA Fair in Kuching in September, 2017,” said Lee. He added that familiriatisation trips to cover Miri and Mulu were also organised for agents from Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Shenzen and Australia.
Lee revealed that the Honorary Secretary General of United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) also visited Miri and Mulu in November last year.
“This is another histor ic moment for Miri and Mulu as his visit generated much publicity. He presented a paper specifically on Mulu National Park at the Hebei International Tourism conference in Baoding, Hebei Province, China after that,” added the Assistant Minister.
