Category: Updates

The Indie Video Competition with the theme “Sarawak: More to Discover”, announced their winners recently with Nazmi Nasse Ruddin taking home the grand prize of RM10,000.

First and second runners-up were Chong Ee Vei and Jeremy Emang Jecky, winning RM5,000 and RM3,000, respectively.

Consolation prize winners were Mohammed Alfiani Zizam Adeng and his team, Mohamad Faizuan Mat and his team, and Chai Teck Hua with a prize of RM500 each.

The competition was organised by Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF) in collaboration with Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), and winning entries will be used in digital promotion of Sarawak as a tourism destination.

Sarawak Tourism Board and their travel trade partners will be participating in ITB Berlin from March 6 to 10 at the Messe Berlin.

The Sarawak delegation includes Borneo Adventure Tours & Travel, One Wayang Tour Sdn. Bhd., Ranee Boutique Suites and the Marian Boutique Lodging House.

This year, the Sarawak Booth will be located at the Tourism Malaysia Pavilion, number 26, in front of the Hall 25/26 entrance.

Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sport YB Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah will also be attending ITB Berlin to launch the “Sarawak: More to Discover – Sibu and Central Region”, introducing central Sarawak as a tour destination in Europe.

Malaysia is an Official Partner Country with ITB Berlin 2019.

The Sarawak Tourism Board wrapped up at the Flight Centre Travel Expo, where they attended the expo in Sydney and Melbourne on February 2-3 and 9-10.

The Board was able to promote Sarawak directly to the Australian consumers, who were eager to hear more about the responsible tourism and experiential tourism attractions within Sarawak.

The expo was a success in raising awareness on the authenticity and vastness of Sarawak’s attractions, particularly in Culture, Adventure, Nature, Food and Festivals as well.

Sarawak Tourism Board went for a week-long tourism promotion mission to Finland attending the MATKA Travel Fair in Helsinki and also conducted destination briefing and partners’ engagement session in Amsterdam with local Sarawak partners.

 Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) is set to ramp its tourism promotion in the Netherlands with at least three Dutch operators who have expressed their interests in joint marketing collaboration.

 The Product Managers from Fox Verre Reizen and Sawadee Reizen expressed their interests to do a familiarization trip to Sarawak in order for them to have a first-hand experience of the destination whereas the Product Manager of Pangea Travel had, indicated his intention to include the Central Region as a new product in their promotional catalogue.

 Meanwhile in Helsinki, the STB delegation were guests at the office of the Malaysian Embassy, meeting with the First Secretary, Norhalilah Abdul Jalil.

Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) celebrates this Chinese New Year by promoting Sarawak’s iconic animal, the Bornean Bearded Pig.

Around 24% of Sarawak’s population are of Chinese descent, making the lunar New Year a big celebration throughout the state every year.

The use of the ang pau is a tradition celebrated by Chinese communities throughout Sarawak and the world, where the elders give red packets to children on the Lunar New Year for good fortune. In more modern renditions of the red packet, the animal of the Chinese zodiac for that year is often featured on the front.

As the Visit Sarawak Campaign continues, STB used this opportunity to celebrate the local cultural tradition of celebrating the lunar New Year by printing red packets for their partners in tourism, as well as promoting Sarawak’s distinct nature, this year being the Bornean Bearded Pig.

Bako National Park’s Bornean Bearded Pig is one of the most popular animals in the park, second only to the proboscis monkey, it became the perfect option for the “red packet”.

For more information, you can read the press release here…

 

Video production in Sarawak is not a new thing, as the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) has steadily assisted 20 to 25 productions per year for the past few years.

While STB doesn’t have the authority to ‘green light’ a production or issue permits, they are present to assist and guide production houses through the application processes to the Chief Minister’s Office and Sarawak Immigration Office, as well as to offer a letter of support to help in the application.

Filming permit applications hinge on two criteria; that the production is beneficial to Sarawak’s tourism industry and that applications and documents are submitted two months in advance, in accordance with the Chief Minister’s Office and Sarawak Immigration Office’s standard operating procedures.

In 2018, STB assisted production houses such as the Pekin Express by Eccholine International Line Production from Belgium and “Islands-Earth’s Paradise Isles” by BBC Natural History Unit from UK.

Over the years, STB had a hand in assisting productions such as the Asia’s Next Top Model (Season 2 Episode 9), an episode of River Monsters, Surviving Borneo with Henry Golding, Anthony Bourdain’s – Parts Unknown, to name a few.

 

Sarawak Tourism Board will participate in various trade & consumer fairs in its focus markets in 2019.

The focus market include Domestic, Regional, Europe, China and Australia markets, with many established travel fairs planned in STB’s marketing initiative calendar.

More importantly, Sarawak will be holding their own trade or roadshows in certain markets such as the Sarawak Expo, a consumer fair, which will be held in November in Indonesia.

In Singapore, a two-part “Singapore Business Networking Session” will take place in April and October to encourage new business connections between Sarawak and Singapore industry partners.

STB will also be holding a Sarawak Tourism Roadshow in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, with a B2B format, for the same reason.

A two-part Sarawak Tourism Seminar in collaboration with AirAsia will be taking place in South China as well, the first session taking place in March and the second in October.

STB encourages international trade partners to attend the various trade and consumer fairs and roadshows in the year of 2019, to form new business ventures to promote Sarawak’s attractions and products worldwide.

For more in depth information on the 2019 marketing initiatives here…

The Visit Sarawak Campaign’s plane livery will be launched by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg at Kuching International Airport on February 2.

The AirAsia plane will fly for at least two years with a possible three-year extension, along an international route, to enhance the visibility of Sarawak’s brand and name, in the aims of achieving the state’s goal of 5 million visitors by the end of 2019.

The plane livery features a large rhinoceros hornbill along the side of the aircraft, as well as the Visit Sarawak Campaign’s logo and tagline, “Sarawak – More to Discover”.

A new electric bus was unveiled at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) as a part of a pilot project that will introduce electric buses into the streets of Kuching.

Beginning early next year, the bus will take a 14km long route covering Satok, the Heritage Trail and iCOM Square, offering free rides to all locals and visitors for the first three months.

The bus has a capacity of 53 passengers and is wheelchair-friendly, with amenities like free Wi-Fi and a GPS tracking system.

It is fully electric and operates a range of around 300km on a fully charged battery, with a charging station located at Jalan Depo.

This encouraging move towards ‘clean energy’ driven public transport promises a greener future for Kuching, with a smaller carbon footprint and less air pollution.

Sarawak Tourism Board recently held industry engagement sessions and a media night in Miri and Sibu, touching base and showing gratitude to media partners in the two cities.

On December 11 and 12 respectively, the syndication with industry partners was also held in Miri was held to present the Board’s plans for the coming Visit Sarawak Campaign and to take in feedback to be implemented in the future.

The Miri Media Appreciation Night was held to show the board’s gratitude to the local media in how they promote the communities, cultures and events within their region. The night was filled with lucky draws, karaoke and a photo booth for the members of the media to enjoy.