KUCHING: The Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has expressed hope that the staff of the Sarawak Tourism Board will be able to look beyond their scope of work and be the forerunner in transforming the industry, driving it to greater heights.
“You are all given the responsibility and the Ministry and its agencies will support you in your core business of promotion” he said at his first meeting with staff of the Board on Tuesday.
Encouraging them to be creative in their promotional approach, he said digital platforms offer limitless option in the promotion of the destination and the Board will need to capitalise on it,” he said.
“We have recently seen progress in the industry, including improved connectivity outside the State and adding that we will not stop but to move on to make the industry vibrant and interesting,” he added.
He was positive that the favourable working relationship with tourism partners including agents, airlines, hoteliers and product owners will be able to see continued performance of the industry.
“Let me know the hurdles that you all faced and I together with my Permanent Secretary to the Ministry will assist to give it a personal touch”, he assured.
Accompanying the Minister during the visit was his new Permanent Secretary to his Ministry, Mr Hii Chang Kee. The meeting was held to touch base with the staff and to brief him on the functions and set up of the Board and at the same time to chart course for the future directions for tourism promotion of the state.
Datuk Karim, advised the Board to work closely with the Sarawak Convention Bureau in tapping the lucrative business tourism sector while at the same time to infuse new promotion platform including digital promotion as part of the strategy to bring the industry to a greater heights. He also urged tourism partners to look into sports tourism, which has shown resurgence recently and that could be a game
changer in the future.
“We are pleased that we have international sporting events planned for next year and the potential to bring in big names and personalities will need to be leveraged on in the promotion of the State”, he enthused.
Karim took a moment to express his endorsement for Hii Chang Kee’s appointment in his new post adding that “I’m very sure he can help out in a lot of ways to bring the Ministry as well as the State of Sarawak to a higher level.”
The Minister was pleased that the visitors’ arrivals into Sarawak that reached 4,427,539 by November 2017, a reflection of 6.5 percent increase from the previous year.
“We will be very pleased if we are able to reach our target of five million but this year we set a target of 5.2 million for ourselves, he continued. Also present were the Chairman of the Board, Datuk Abdul Wahab Aziz and the Board’s Deputy Chief Executive Office, Mary Wan Mering.
