| Preserve local cultures: Wong This is in order to sustain the rapid pace of tourism development, tourism players told. KUCHING: Tourism players in the State must go all out to preserve the authenticity of local cultures to sustain the rapid pace of tourism development, said Minister of Urban Development and Tourism Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.  | | BETTER TOURISM: Wong (second right) poses with (from right) Geikie, Teo, Exeter, Aloysius and Henry after opening the 4th International Borneo Tourism Conference 2007. | | “We have to keep what we have and what we feel proud of in the long run especially when the tourism market is open to the rest of the world we must preserve the originality and threads of our cultures,” he said. “In the meantime, the local community must be engaged in protecting the State’s natural resources like National Parks, Nature Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries for they are the crucial tourism attractions as far as Sarawak is concerned.” He made these remarks when he opened the three-day 4th International Borneo Tourism Conference 2007 attended by delegates from Sabah, Brunei, Indonesia and Peninsular Malaysia. It was held at the Sarawak Tourism Complex here yesterday. Wong, who is also Second Finance Minister, pointed out that tourism stakeholders had to either broaden their existing products by being creative or invent more fresh products in order to stay competitive in the global market. Using Singapore’s Sentosa Island for comparison, he felt that some other unique or new features must be added to the prevailing products to attract more visitors in the years to come. “All these years, we see how Sentosa Island is transformed into a must-visit attraction in Singapore. And for now, unless the island is further developed, it may not be able to gain more tourists.” Given the rich resources and cultures in Sarawak, he was confident that more successes could be expected if tourism players pulled their skills and knowledge together. “People with the same aim, fighting for the same cause should work together for the benefits of all. More importantly, knowledge shared is not knowledge lost, but gained and enhanced. The Borneo region has great potentials for tourism development. One names it — we have it. What we have, probably the others do not have; what others do not have, we may have it,” he said. He thus stressed that Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and Kalimantan should stay closely connected with one another to access and share the best manpower, skills, strategies and know-how to boost tourism development. In Sarawak, Wong said, more aspects of development should be given due attention, especially the homestay programme, health tourism, sports tourism, and education tourism. “We need to come up with long-term strategies to guide the development of the tourism sector, which is in tandem with other development sectors in economy,” he said, adding that such guidance should be environmentally and culturally sustainable. He hoped that the conference would provide a platform to inspire and educate delegates to better develop tourism in the region besides exchanging and sharing the latest knowledge. Earlier, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Gracie Geikie said the conference was meant to re-energise the present tourism packages, strategies and implementations. “First time held in Kuching, it is hoped to bring about ideas to generate and synergise tourism growth. The conference should be able to benefit, share knowledge finding and expertise to further strengthen the tourism potential in Borneo,” she said. Also present were co-organiser Albert Teo, STB board member Datu Aloysius Dris, Sarawak Convention Bureau chief executive officer Jill Henry and Tourism Western Australia sites manager Mark Exeter. Published by:
The Borneo Post
13 September 2007 | 
