TRADE TALKDestination
TRADE TALKDestination Sarawak– as seen by travel professionalsMichael MetznerCEO Tischler Reisen AG,GermanyGary SpeldewindeDirector – Ecogreen Holidays,Kuching, SarawakPhilip YongCo-founder and Managing Director,Borneo AdventureOUTBOUND TOSOUTHEAST ASIAINBOUND TO SARAWAKWe are recognising a growingtrend towards individual qualitytours. Sustainability is becoming moreand more important. Also, tourscombining several different countriesor destinations are popular. An examplemight be Singapore combined with anature and wildlife experience inSarawak/Borneo.As a specialist for individual tailor-madequality tours to Asia, Oriental countriesand Indian Ocean we are alwayslooking for untouched destinations offthe beaten track. Sarawak is truly oneof these natural gems and fits perfectlyin our portfolio. Private tours to theNational Parks including trekking toursin the rainforest, wildlife observationand experience of the great variety ofculture are just some of the highlights,Sarawak has a lot to offer, and anincreasing number of our clients areattracted to exploring the destinationevery year.Ecotourism is a major trendtoday. People want to findout more about the country, theculture, the cuisine, and theindigenous people; but to do this,you need somebody in the field whoknows the ropes. We prefer toorganise tours where peopleactually live in a village and stay withthe local inhabitants.… We have just signed with a newonline portal in Europe: a sitelaunched at the end of February2020. They focus on ethnic tribesof different countries. With them,we are developing tours of up to 12days, learning about the lifestyleof the local communities. There isso much to learn that it would beimpossible to do so in one’s entirelifetime, but with a tour like this,people can really see a lot!Sarawak exceeds expectations.On the surface, we couldadvertise about culture, nature andadventure, but there is a whole lotmore than that. There’s food, there arefestivals, there is an incredible variety,and the layering of so many things,and that is a bonus. I think we do havesome stunning places. Kuching stillhas a bit of an old city laid-back charm;Mulu is spectacular… it always takesmy breath away.There are a variety of things peoplecan do. For example, we can takepeople to see Orangutans in the wild.Not many people have done that. Youcan see them in the zoo. But thereare probably less than ten thousandpeople who have seen Orangutans intheir natural habitat in Sarawak. Thereis something for everyone – families,adventure travellers or couples.6 SMART GUIDE www.sarawaktourism.com
CULTURESoutheast Asia’s newcultural highpointMalaysia’s biggest, most spectacular newmuseum set to open in Kuching in 2020It’s set to become the “shining star” of Malaysia’s, and indeed theentire region’s cultural scene. Sarawak’s new state museum inKuching – Malaysia’s biggest, the second biggest in SoutheastAsia – will open to the public later this year.The new museum and annexe are partof the Sarawak Museum campus, whichalso includes the old Sarawak Museum,the Natural History Museum, and the ArtMuseum.The new 30,000 sq m building will ensurethat the Sarawak heritage, in the form ofa wide array of collections, is safely andsecurely stored, preserved, documented,researched and well exhibited,according to the latest standards by theInternational Council of Museums.The new five-storey building will haveexhibition 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 theexhibition gallery.The main building is connected to a threestoreyannexe, housing the museum’soffices, conservation and researchspaces, library and archives, while theentire basement level is a dedicatedstorage area.The property has been under constructionsince 2014, at a cost of around €70 m. Itis Malaysia’s first museum to be GreenBuilding Index (GBI) certified. Ecofriendlybuilding materials include timberproducts certified by the Programme forthe Endorsement of Forest Certification(PEFC) for the floors and interior wallpanels. Following the demolition of theDewan Tun Abdul Razak building to makeway for the new museum, consciousefforts were also made to retain thelarge trees on site and to preserve thesurrounding context as much as possible.While the building was completed lastAugust, with an official hand-overceremony attended by Minister ofTourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and SportsDatuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah,opening time is slated for later this year.When complete, visitors will embark uponan interactive journey through Sarawak’shistory, and the lifestyles of the state’snumerous ethnic communities.The Sarawak Museum had long beenhailed as one of the best in this part ofthe world, with its old wing dating backto 1891. The new building will serve as acentre of learning, hosting internationalscholars to collaborate with localcurators on documenting the materialknowledge of Borneo’s rich past, alongwith its cultures, people and nature.It aims to establish Sarawak as a newglobal focal point for work in the field ofanthropologywww.sarawaktourism.comSMART GUIDE 7
