SIBU: Dayak non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should set up a mini cultural village to attract tourists.
Tamin assemblyman Christopher Gira Sambang said the NGOs could submit their proposal to the state government for consideration.
“Other races like the Chinese already have their cultural village in Sibu but we Dayaks still do not have a tourism product yet.
“A mini cultural village is a centre that we can display our culture either for the Iban, Bidayuh, and Orang Ulu. It can be used as a tourism product here,” he said while officiating at the Dayak Night at the Borneo Dayak Cultural Festival (BCF) 2022 at Dataran Tun Tuanku Bujang on Monday (July 18).
Gira noted that the existence of tourism products in an area is very important as it can attract tourists and encourage more international flights.
“To get direct flights like Kuching-Shenzhen-Kuching or Kuching-Jakarta-Kuching, we need tourism products.
“If there are no tourism products, it will be difficult for the airline to implement direct flights as they will be facing losses due to the lack of passenger load,” he said.
Gira hoped that when Sibu had enough tourism products, it would open up the tourism sector through international flights.
So far, Sibu does not have an international flight.
Gira also said the government is working hard to produce events that can attract more local tourists.
“The ministries have supported and implemented a lot of events throughout the state such as the upcoming Citra Warna in Kuching, Sibu International Dance Festival (SIDF) here, Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) in Kuching, and Borneo Jazz Festival in Miri to attract tourists,” he said.
Gira said that he is confident that more tourists will come to Sarawak when the Brunei border gate opens in August.
“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 gates this August,” he said.
Also present were Sibu Municipal Council (MPS) chairman Clarence Ting, Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) organising committee chairman and MPS deputy chairman Bujang Abdul Majid, Temenggong Stanley Gramong, Pemanca Mathew Ganggang, BCF organising committee chairman Councillor Augustine Merikan and Dayak NGO leaders.
