Flight routes from South Korea and Japan may lift earnings

SARAWAK’S private tourism sector is cautiously optimistic that next year will be a better year in terms of tourist arrivals from developed countries. The sector is banking on two new flight routes from South Korea and Japan, which will begin in mid-January. However, concerns remain on whether the new flight routes will be sustainable. Also, it does not help that arrivals from rich nations like Singapore have dropped.

Congrats: Dr Tiki (second from left) and Infrastructure Development and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Michael Manyin (second from right) witnessing Kem Putra Sentosa operator Henry Harry Jinep receiving the camp’s ISO 9001 : 2008 certification from ISO representative Robert Tang in Kuching.

According to latest Tourism and Heritage Ministry figures, Singaporean arrivals shrunk 19% (to just 31,000) in the first 10 months of this year. “Arrivals from rich countries is very important,” Sarawak Tourism Federation president Audry Wan Ullok told StarMetro in an interview. “Sometimes, the figures seem very gloomy, but the industry must remain positive because of the new flights. The tourism board has been asked to step up marketing overseas.”

On the decrease of arrivals from rich nations, she said the right kind of awareness had not been generated overseas. Sarawak was facing stiff competition from destinations like Bali and Bangkok.

The Internet, she added, had levelled the marketing capabilities for poorer nations. She said that targeted segments might not have been suitable, highlighting that the youth market was largely untapped. “In places like Singapore, the Education Ministry is encouraging its students to visit lesser-developed countries like our’s. We should work towards attracting more tourists of that kind.” This, she said, was because the younger tourists were more adventurous and willing to visit rural areas. “Figures show that tourists spend more at rural areas. The average is RM1,500 per tourist in rural areas for just accommodation and food.” She said that eco-tourists also stayed for longer periods.

On South Korean and Japanese tourists, Audry expressed worry over their expectations. She said the two countries’ tourists were less adventurous and would be “difficult to tackle” for Sarawak. “They are luxury tourists. They want big shopping malls and theme parks. Even in terms of food, they prefer to go to Korean and Japanese restaurants.” In the first 10 months of this year, about 26,000 South Korean and Japanese tourists visited Sarawak. Audry said the arrivals would have to double to be sustainable in the long term.

“I understand that, for next year, the tourism board has targeted 40,000 South Korean and Japanese arrivals.” Audry was also concerned that both flights would make stopovers in Kota Kinabalu. “The question is, how do we keep them on the connecting flight all the way to Sarawak. We hope they won’t just stay in KK. Even if the marketing of jungles is our forte, if the Japanese and South Koreans prefer beaches, then Sabah has better beaches than our’s.” On a related matter, Audry lamented about poor public transport in Sarawak. “When I was in Bangkok recently, I was amazed by how much the transportation was better organised and how much easier it was to get around.” She said it was important to create a value-for-money perception to lure tourists. “With the Internet, when potential tourists see that another destination is as little as RM30 or RM40 cheaper, they will go there,” she said.

-thestar online.