TRADE TALK Destination
TRADE TALK Destination Sarawak – as seen by travel professionals Michael Metzner CEO Tischler Reisen AG, Germany Gary Speldewinde Director – Ecogreen Holidays, Kuching, Sarawak Philip Yong Co-founder and Managing Director, Borneo Adventure OUTBOUND TO SOUTHEAST ASIA INBOUND TO SARAWAK We are recognising a growing trend towards individual quality tours. Sustainability is becoming more and more important. Also, tours combining several different countries or destinations are popular. An example might be Singapore combined with a nature and wildlife experience in Sarawak/Borneo. As a specialist for individual tailor-made quality tours to Asia, Oriental countries and Indian Ocean we are always looking for untouched destinations off the beaten track. Sarawak is truly one of these natural gems and fits perfectly in our portfolio. Private tours to the National Parks including trekking tours in the rainforest, wildlife observation and experience of the great variety of culture are just some of the highlights, Sarawak has a lot to offer, and an increasing number of our clients are attracted to exploring the destination every year. Ecotourism is a major trend today. People want to find out more about the country, the culture, the cuisine, and the indigenous people; but to do this, you need somebody in the field who knows the ropes. We prefer to organise tours where people actually live in a village and stay with the local inhabitants. … We have just signed with a new online portal in Europe: a site launched at the end of February 2020. They focus on ethnic tribes of different countries. With them, we are developing tours of up to 12 days, learning about the lifestyle of the local communities. There is so much to learn that it would be impossible to do so in one’s entire lifetime, but with a tour like this, people can really see a lot! Sarawak exceeds expectations. On the surface, we could advertise about culture, nature and adventure, but there is a whole lot more than that. There’s food, there are festivals, there is an incredible variety, and the layering of so many things, and that is a bonus. I think we do have some stunning places. Kuching still has a bit of an old city laid-back charm; Mulu is spectacular… it always takes my breath away. There are a variety of things people can do. For example, we can take people to see Orangutans in the wild. Not many people have done that. You can see them in the zoo. But there are probably less than ten thousand people who have seen Orangutans in their natural habitat in Sarawak. There is something for everyone – families, adventure travellers or couples. 6 SMART GUIDE www.sarawaktourism.com
CULTURE Southeast Asia’s new cultural highpoint Malaysia’s biggest, most spectacular new museum set to open in Kuching in 2020 It’s set to become the “shining star” of Malaysia’s, and indeed the entire region’s cultural scene. Sarawak’s new state museum in Kuching – Malaysia’s biggest, the second biggest in Southeast Asia – will open to the public later this year. The new museum and annexe are part of the Sarawak Museum campus, which also includes the old Sarawak Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Art Museum. The new 30,000 sq m building will ensure that the Sarawak heritage, in the form of a wide array of collections, is safely and securely stored, preserved, documented, researched and well exhibited, according to the latest standards by the International Council of Museums. The new five-storey building will have exhibition spaces on Levels 2 through 5, on two wings flanking a central atrium. Level 1 will house commercial lots, a café, function rooms and auditorium spaces, supporting and complementing the exhibition gallery. The main building is connected to a threestorey annexe, housing the museum’s offices, conservation and research spaces, library and archives, while the entire basement level is a dedicated storage area. The property has been under construction since 2014, at a cost of around €70 m. It is Malaysia’s first museum to be Green Building Index (GBI) certified. Ecofriendly building materials include timber products certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) for the floors and interior wall panels. Following the demolition of the Dewan Tun Abdul Razak building to make way for the new museum, conscious efforts were also made to retain the large trees on site and to preserve the surrounding context as much as possible. While the building was completed last August, with an official hand-over ceremony attended by Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, opening time is slated for later this year. When complete, visitors will embark upon an interactive journey through Sarawak’s history, and the lifestyles of the state’s numerous ethnic communities. The Sarawak Museum had long been hailed as one of the best in this part of the world, with its old wing dating back to 1891. The new building will serve as a centre of learning, hosting international scholars to collaborate with local curators on documenting the material knowledge of Borneo’s rich past, along with its cultures, people and nature. It aims to establish Sarawak as a new global focal point for work in the field of anthropology www.sarawaktourism.com SMART GUIDE 7
