Ranau’s Arnab Village: Young entrepreneur turns hobby into successful business venture
KOTA KINABALU, Aug 8 — The Arnab Village in Kampung Purakagis, Ranau located about 104km from here, has generated RM300,000 in revenue through ticket sales after a year of operation.
The new tourism product in Ranau which is operated by Jubair Juhinin, a graduate of Aquaculture Science from the University Malaysia Sabah (UMS), has become one of the tourist destinations in the district, besides the Mount of Kinabalu, Sabah Tea Garden, Poring Hot Spring and the Tagal Sungai Moroli in Kampung Luanti.
Jubair, 27, told Bernama he had never expected his hobby of keeping rabbits would turn into a business in the rural tourism industry in Sabah which promised a bright future.
Although the business started with less than RM5,000, with minimum facilities and environmental landscapes, he was optimistic the tourism product which was developed on a 0.2 hectare land would bring good returns.
Now, upgrading works are underway gradually at the Arnab Village for visitor convenience.
“The upgrading works include public facilities such as toilets, garden expansion, rabbit stables and building a souvenir shop. While for the third phase of development, we will focus on building restaurants and accessory shops.
“Besides that, we will build shop lots around villages to be rented by traders to sell craft products, food or related products to help them in generating income,” he said here yesterday.
Jubair was met by Bernama at the Sabah Rural Tourism Roadshow programme organised by the Sabah Tourism Board.
The three-day event started last Friday aimed at showcasing Sabah’s rural based tourism products to tourism industry players and the public at large, besides leveraging the expertise and know-how of industry players in packaging and promoting rural tourism experience to the domestic and international markets.
Furthermore, the young entrepreneur said there were 400 rabbits of eight species namely, New Zealand White; Standard Rex; Mini Satin; Lion Head; Netherland Dwarf; Lop Ear; Anggora; and Local Breed, that were released to roam around in a fenced area to enable visitors to take photos and videos of the animal.
Jubair said he aimed to keep about 1,000 rabbits at the garden early next year.
“For the second year, we aim to attract more visitors with revenue of RM500,000 through ticket sales,” he added.
Therefore, he said the Sabah Rural Tourism Roadshow programme had opened an opportunity for him and his team to expand networking.
Admission ticket to the Arnab Village for locals is RM3 (children) and RM5 (adult); while for international visitors RM5 (children) and RM10 (adult)
The Arnab Village, the first such tourism product in Sabah is open daily from 9am to 5pm. — Bernama
Source: Malay Mail Online
