Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #43

ASIA - PACIFIC
TRENDING DESTINATIONS
River at Mulu
Proboscis Monkey, Bako National Park
BUMI KENYALANG
Sarawak… land of the hornbills… orang utans…
and so much more!
Since the arrival of a new CEO at
the head of its tourism organisation,
Sarawak, the beating heart of
Borneo, has been making new
efforts to stand out from the crowd.
Last year saw the arrival of a
colourful new logo, leveraging the
use of vibrant colours representing
the diversity in Sarawak and different
natural aspects such as green for the
rainforest and blue for the oceans
and lakes.
“The brush strokes are fun and not
rigid lines, much like Sarawak which
is a very friendly and laid-back place
to visit,” explains Sarawak Tourism
Chief Executive Officer, Sharzede
Datu HJ Salleh Askor. “The centre
‘a’ is, of course, a stylised hornbill
representing Sarawak’s moniker
of ‘Land of Hornbills’ or ‘Bumi
Kenyalang’. It is also a very sacred
bird to many of the indigenous
people in Sarawak.”
According to Ms Askor, the three
key selling points of Sarawak are
“Our people, our products and
our authenticity. We have genuine
authenticity with modern comforts
that you truly cannot find anywhere
else.”
New products, or existing products
that hadn’t seen much promotion
in the past are now under the
spotlight. The Kuching Heritage Trail
is one such attraction, and plans
are in the works to make Kuching
city’s historical heritage an easily
navigated product on its own.
With a previous image of Sarawak as
wild – and consequently untamed,
travel advisors had sometimes
shied away from selling it as a
family destination. However, trade
and media fam tours are fast
dispelling this myth, with particularly
comfortable and modern facilities
and services.
TOP INTERNAL DESTINATIONS
INCLUDE:
Bako National Park - the oldest and one of
the smallest national parks in Sarawak. The park
is located at approximately 37 km from the city
of Kuching; which makes it one of the easiest
national parks to reach. One of the highlights of
the park are the proboscis monkeys.
Semenggoh Nature Reserve - For over 20 years,
the wardens at Semenggoh Nature Reserve had
been training young orangutans, orphaned or
rescued from captivity, on how to survive in the
wild. The success of this programme has left
the surrounding forest reserve with a thriving
population of healthy adolescent and young adult
orangutans, who are now breeding in the wild.
Gunung Mulu - Named a UNESCO World
Heritage site in 2000, Mulu National Park in
Sarawak is seeing European visitor numbers –
especially from Germany – growing rapidly. The
park, despite being remote (or perhaps thanks
to its remoteness), is recognised throughout
Asia as being a model in terms of management
and infrastructure. Its caves are among the most
spectacular in the world