stbnews – Page 32 – Sarawak Tourism Hornbill Trail Newsletter

Sarawak Business Session at ITB Asia 2016

15 representatives of the travel agents and hoteliers from Sarawak will be making their presence at this year’s ITB Asia to be held at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore on October 19 to 21.

ITB Asia is the largest B2B event in the region and has become the premier meeting place for the travel trade industry and also the forum for establishing high-quality customer contacts and conducting travel businesses.

The Sarawak Travel Agents will be actively taking part in the exhibitions, workshops and seminars, in an effort towards creating positive exposure and awareness in the international sphere on the relevance of Sarawak’s tourism products and destinations.

At ITB Asia, international exhibitors from all sectors within the travel businesses and Asia Pacific’s leading travel companies and emerging small and medium-sized enterprises will meet with top international buyers from the MICE, Leisure and Corporate Travel markets.

The event is open to registered trade partners from 10:00am to 6:00pm daily. Sarawak booth is located Hall F, booth number C15.

For more information: http://www.itb-asia.com/

Kuching to host the Asia Pacific Ecotourism Conference (APECo) 2016

Kuching will host the Asia Pacific Ecotourism Conference (APeco) on October 21 to 23at the Riverside Majestic Hotel, Kuching.

Under the theme “Creating Opportunities in Ecotourism”, the conference aim to promote ecotourism standards in the tourism industry and creating awareness while giving opportunity to educate, share and exchange ideas and knowledge about ecotourism.

With an assembly of 20 panellists ranging from destination founders to travel journalists, the conference will be covering specific topics of interest from Community to success stories in the ecotourism industry with special focus to the Asia Pacific region.

Organised by the Malaysia Association of Tour Agents (MATTA), it hope to create a conducive dialogue to further development in the ecotourism industry while acknowledging tourism as valid national investment as it creates a way for preservation and development to merge as one sustainable change to improve the livelihoods of communities.

For more information: http://apeco.org.my/

Brooke Gallery now opens

The Brooke Gallery at Fort Margherita, was officially opened on September 24 coinciding with the 175th anniversary of the founding of State.

Housed in a Fort named after James Brooke’s wife, Rani Margherita, the gallery’s irreplaceable historical documents, artefacts and arts from the White Rajah’s era, wrapped in steep history and preserved in time.

The gallery also includes new addition such as a portrait painting of Rentappainted by the local artist, Alena Murang, depicting the man who was a hero to some and a villain to others.

This gallery was a joint project of the Sarawak Museum Department, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture as well as Mr. Jason Brooke, the grandson of the last Rajah Muda and the Director of The Brooke Trust.

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Siniawan to Be Gazetted

Old Siniawan town, located in the Bau district about 30 minutes’ drive from the city will be gazetted as a ‘Heritage Area’.

With the gazetting process underway, Siniawan will soon be “linked” to the State’s Brooke Heritage Site and Brooke Gallery in Fort Margherita, of which all these sites will be upgraded to be turned into a new tourism product.

Siniawan, was among the locations for many key battles during the Brooke era and has gained popularity over the years for its weekend night market with its rustic setting attracting locals and tourists alike to sample its wide range of local food and beverages.

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Another additional member for our Orang Utan family

The Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, Kuching, has welcomed a new member to the Orang Utan family with the recent birth of a baby Orang Utan.

The Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) recently announced that the 20 year old mother, Analisa was spotted on the feeding platform on September 18 with a new-born baby in her arms, the gender of the baby is still unknown.

This is far from the first natural birth at the Wildlife Centre, as Analisa has given birth to two babies before and she herself was born to Seduku, one of the oldest female orangutan at the Centre.

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Picture shows Analisa with her new baby

Semenggoh now has 27 free-ranging orangutans, and the newest birth has provided irrefutable proof of the success of the Centre’s rehabilitation programme, while also inspiring those who are working towards the conservation and rehabilitation of orangutans throughout Sarawak.

Sarawak Tourism Board Signs MOU with Heibei Province

The Sarawak Tourism Board’s strategy in tapping the China market has produced positive results with the Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Hebei Province at a ceremony held here on September 25.

Signed by the Chairman of STB, Datuk Haji Abdul Wahab Aziz and Hebei Governor Zhang Qingwei, the MOU provides opportunity for joint tourism cooperation, aggressive promotions and establishment of business exchange specifically focusing on the tourism sector.

The document also focuses on research on tourism attractions and development as both destinations have similar tourism products such as mountains, geo-parks, lakes, rural and cultural tourism.

The Signing of MOU will see positive result in charter flights connecting Sarawak and Hebei Province to cater for movement of tourists and business travel, and will bring Sarawak to another level in their effort to attract more Chinese tourists to visit Sarawak.

Picture shows Sarawak Tourism Board’s Chairman Hon. Datuk Haji Abdul Wahab bin Aziz (third from left) and witnessed by the Assistant Minister of Tourism Sarawak Hon. Datuk Lee Kim Shin (fourth from left) after the Signing of Memorandum of Understanding ceremony.