Sabah to anchor on North Borneo connection

 

KOTA KINABALU: Mention North Borneo and many would shift their attention to the top of a map of the island where Sabah sits.

A recent move to rebrand the state's tagline - Feel Sabah, North Borneo - has delivered much optimism to the tour industry that is gradually picking up action after the global Covid-19 crisis.

North Borneo brings in a bigger picture at play in the regional front as the island shares borders among three countries - Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

With Indonesia planning to relocate its capital to Nusantara, East Kalimantan from Jakarta next year, Borneo is bound to be thrust into the limelight.

Veteran tour operator Tham Yau Kong said the move to rebrand Sabah was timely and deserves all the focus, especially as everyone strives to recover from the two year pandemic.

"Internationally, people are more familiar with Borneo. So it is only right to promote and market Sabah with the tagline North Borneo," said the tour operator who also believes that every player in the industry needs to play a part in this.

Tour bus driver Steven Rampangajouw said most foreign guests he served related to the Borneo connection.

"Of course once they are here they know about Sabah but many got to know the state via Borneo first, especially westerners, those from Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan and India.

"Tour companies have long used the Borneo tagline to push their businesses and it's good now that the government too is doing the same thing," Steven said.

The Sabah Tourism Board launched the 'Feel Sabah, North Borneo" during the ITB Berlin 2023 (Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin) recently.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew who launched it said it was apt to adopt the promotional theme for sentimental and historical reasons.

"The name 'North Borneo' (now Sabah) sounds exotic and evokes nostalgic feelings of yearning for this destination. It is also of historical significance as the state was then known as 'North Borneo' prior to gaining our Independence in 1963.

"People in many parts of the world (reportedly) haven't heard about Sabah, despite decades of promoting this Land Below The Wind to the outside world, let alone know about our diverse natural attractions and iconic wildlife.

"However, we are aware that at the mention of Borneo or North Borneo, it rings a bell. Europeans in particular associate Sabah with Borneo. Hence, we are determined to rebrand this tourist destination with 'Feel Sabah, North Borneo' to create a new identity in the travel marketplace," said Liew who led a delegation to the event on March 7.

The delegation comprised Assistant Minister and STB Chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, the Ministry's Permanent Secretary Datuk Mohd Yusrie Abdullah, STB chief executive officer Noredah Othman as well as ministry and STB officials.

With the recent resumption of international direct flights, cruise tourism and optimism about mounting regular or chartered flights from new destinations, Liew said Sabah targeted 2.2 million arrivals for 2023 and will work towards attaining 2.5 million arrivals.

Sabah's top feeder markets in the past (based on 2019 data) represented a good mix of visitors from Taiwan, China, Brunei, Singapore and South Korea.

For Europe the top inbound tourism markets are from Germany, France, Netherlands and Italy.

Joniston said Sabah's diverse tourism experiences continue to entice vacationers from Western and European countries.

During the travel trade show, the Sabah Tourism team met with 33 travel agencies from countries including Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Czech Republic, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, and Australia.

Joniston said most of the agents he met with assured that Sabah was still a promising holiday destination and the new tagline would help Sabah stand out as a unique and appealing attraction.

"They like how the new tagline highlights the experiential aspect of visiting Sabah. I believe that having people live the experience of traveling while they are at their destination is an effective call to action," said Joniston.

He said Sabah's diverse tourism offerings had remained a pulling force, especially for Western and European tourists who appreciate adventure and exploring off the usual track.

"Sabah is the ideal getaway for them since it has everything they enjoy—sea, sun, wildlife, and nature. These are the kinds of tourists we want to keep pursuing."

-nst online.