KUCHING: A Sarawak Product Experience (SPE) initiative has been introduced to bring to light potential tourism products across Sarawak and at the same time improve the socio-economic status of the local community.
Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) tourist coordinator Ozie Tungging said the new initiative gives opportunities for local people to promote their tourism products as well as update new attractions to be promoted to the public.
He added that this has positively impacted local communities in certain areas.
“One thing through SPE is that it can help sustain the tourism ecosystem that involves both parties, the locals and visitors.
“Furthermore, another new initiative we added is the introduction of Responsible Tourism whereby the community and the visitors are responsible to maintain tourism products,” said Ozie.
“At the same time, we have also introduced the Jejak Digital initiative for the local community to market their product and also to help them improve their socio-economic status, such as their income and livelihood,” he added yesterday (April 2).
Ozie said the SPE programme is organised by STB visitor information centres (VIC) in Sarawak – VIC Kuching covers the southern region, VIC SIbu the central region and VIC Miri the northern region.
Each VIC is required to organise SPE programmes and involve stakeholders such as the media, travel agencies, travel associations and others to experience potential tourism products within the regions.
“Like the trip to Kampung Sapit, where we stayed for two-nights, we want you to experience this new attraction and get your feedback about the trip.
“Likewise, we want stakeholders including the media we invited to be exposed to our potential attractions across the whole regions in Sarawak and meet up with the local communities,” he added.
He said by physically experiencing potential tourism products, the public will know about it and visitors will surely want to try out.
“We do find many potential tourism spots across the state. That is why we go to the ground because we want it to be known and recognised by the public and visitors.
“In certain places, only a limited number of people have discovered something new, such as waterfalls or viewpoints, and make these viral on social media platforms.
“So only some locals or adventurers find certain tourist spots, which have not been declared officially,” Ozie added.
With the SPE initiative organised, Ozie is hopeful for more exposure of new tourism products and cooperation from all parties including the local communities.
“It all begins with the local communities because it is their place and their product. Without them, we cannot do this successfully, so hopefully this initiative can continue and bring fruitful results,” said Ozie.
