Tag - Tourism

Sabah Air can start with chartered flights or engage strategic partners prior to running a full-fledged airline due to the complexity involved. Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun suggested that Sabah Air should begin with chartered flights as it was an easier alternative to get the feel on how to run an airline.   His second suggestion, that is to engage strategic partners, will allow the company to run the airline with people with expertise.   Masidi was commenting on Sabah Air chairman Datuk Yusoff Mohd Kasim’s recent announcement that Sabah Air was looking at serving regional routes such as to Korea, Japan and Australia.   “Although it is a good concept, the process is complicated, starting with buying or leasing an aircraft.   “Buying an aircraft is not easy because there are only a few manufacturers in the world – Airbus and Boeing, and the waiting period is five years,” he said in an interview after officiating at a book launch here yesterday.   In addition, he said most leased aircraft were used ones.   Masidi also cautioned Sabah Air that there were more airlines losing money than making a profit worldwide.   For instance, airlines who do make money include Singapore Airlines while those expanding at a very fast rate are Middle Eastern companies such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways, he said.   The minister meanwhile welcomed Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to have another discussion and find a better solution rather than cutting routes.   “I believe tentatively that they have read all the comments in the paper and they are disturbed with the reaction from Sabahans.   “I have a reason to believe they may now want to reopen another talk with us in Sabah which I’m more than welcome,” he said.   MAS recently announced the suspension of four direct flights from Osaka, Haneda, Seoul and Perth beginning early this year.   On travel agents’ reluctance to sell Sabah tour packages in Japan due to the suspension of the route by MAS, Masidi said the previously five hours’ journey from Japan to Kota Kinabalu had increased to 12.5 hours inclusive of waiting due to MAS’s decision.   “To me, that is a good reason for MAS to rethink their current strategy,” Masidi said.   He pointed out that the Haneda route was a development route, meaning MAS was not expected to make a profit yet.   “I’m trying to impress on MAS, let’s work together and develop those routes. You may not make money now, but you will make money in the future.”   Masidi added that Sabahans with relatives and children studying in Perth were also unhappy about the suspension, while Koreans did not suffer significant impact as there are four Korean airlines serving the route to Sabah.   Source: Borneo Post (by Chok Sim Yee)

The Tourism Ministry is planning to promote domestic tourism further and make it a major contributor to the economy, Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said. “The importance of domestic tourism cannot be understated as the global tourism market records dip. Last year, the number of domestic tourists totalled 111.5 million, generating RM34.7bil in revenue,” she said. Citing an example, she said that 75.9 million locals were day-trippers. She said there had been a lifestyle change among locals after the five-day work week was introduced in 1999 to encourage more Malaysians to travel internally. “It is also a good indication of the nation’s prosperity and stability,” she told reporters after the launch of the Tourism Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia Dance Carnival yesterday. Earlier at the launch of the dance carnival, Prime Minister’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor reminded Malaysians to maintain the nation’s peace and stability. “Although Malaysia’s peace and stability is a blessing from God, we must work and strive to preserve it,” she said. The carnival was introduced in 2009 to showcase various ethnic dances to promote Malaysia to foreign tourists. Source: The Star

The government needs to set in place a better education and training system that is capable of satisfying the specific needs of the State's booming tourism sector. Sabah Tourist Guides Association (STGA), in highlighting this yesterday, said most institutions offering training in tourism in Sabah do not properly screen their students to ensure that they have the qualities needed for the industry. As a result, most of the students do not even make it into the industry after completing their studies, according to the association’s honorary welfare officer, Marry Ann C Degullacion. Except for a very small percentage, she said some of the lucky ones who managed to land a job in the field they studied were likely to quit or be fired not long after they started because they lacked the required skills and passion. “The fact is that education today, like any other industry, is driven by profit. Nothing wrong with that as long as it is not too focused solely on money making. “It is sad to say but for some of these institutions the students only go as far as their education loan. Once they settled their fees, that is the end for them,” she said. She was presenting the outcome of a group discussion during the Luncheon Talk between government officers and representatives from major industries here. Senior officers from leading organizations under the plantation, tourism, oil and gas, agro processing and automotive sectors attended the half-day discussion facilitated by the Department of Skills Development. A representative from each industry presented the outcome of their respective group discussions, highlighting pressing issues facing their businesses, in particular those concerning the training of skilled workers. Marry Ann suggested that a special body be set up to monitor job placements of students from tertiary education institutions, to keep watch on both the quality and marketability of the students they produced. This monitoring body, she stressed, must have a high standard for quality as it would determine the quality of the workers to be sent into the industry. On another note, she said the authorities also needed to tighten the enforcement of laws governing the tourism industry, especially the tour guide sector. “Tour guiding has become a cut-throat industry partly due to loose monitoring and enforcement by the authorities. “There are for instance tour guides who don’t bother about renewing their licenses and make even more money operating illegally as unlicensed guides. On the other hand, there are tour guides who become taxi drivers because they would earn more driving cabs,” she said. Earlier, she told the dialogue that there was still a need for more qualified tour guides, especially those who are proficient in English and other major foreign languages. “English speaking guides are still very much lacking to support the industry in Sabah. We are also in need of guides who speak Russian, German and even Indonesian, to name a few,” she said. In this regard, she suggested that more emphasis should be given on training new tour guides, apart from re-training existing ones and those who had left but wanted to rejoin the profession. As Sabah is popular for its diving spots, she also suggested dive masters to be trained as qualified tour guides so that they can at least give a more accurate information about the State’s other attractions when visitors ask them. She also proposed that Sabah should recruit more skilled lifeguards, pointing out that the many resorts and tourism spots in the State do not have sufficient or barely have any of this vital safety personnel at all. Source: Borneo Post (by Murib Morpi)