All information of tourism sabah

09Aug

Digital marketing – a must have for travel and tourism

KOTA KINABALU: Digital marketing has become the most important tool for any travel and tourism businesses. A digital marketing expert, Dr Frank J Peter said that hospitality and tourism is one of the industries that are greatly impacted by digital advancement. Thus, to perform well and gain competitive advantage, players in the related industry are always looking for the newest and greatest way to reach their customer personas and enhance offering to their target audience. Peter who is sharing his knowledge at the ‘Digital Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism’ course here yesterday, believed that digital marketing is both art and science, from communicating the right massage to utilising the right tools and formulas. “Using the right platform is essential but it is not achieved by merely spending time and money on any popular platforms but to carefully evaluate and assess what is the best for your industry and specifically to your market segment. “With digital marketing, consumer data can be collected from various sources from endless platform and the ability to diligently optimise this data can improve revenue significantly. From gaining new customers to customising an actual experience for them: digital marketing can do wonders for the industry, he said. During the three-day course, Peter who is also a Google educator and associate faculty at the University Utara Malaysia’s Graduate Business School, shared interesting topics such as ‘Digital Marketing Strategy’, ‘Website Marketing: Content Planning, Website Review + Measurement’, ‘Social Media: Strategy’, ‘Customer Advocacy, Online Reputation Management + Digital Visitor Servicing’, ‘Email Marketing’, and ‘Online Advertising: Facebook, Adwords, Instagram’. More than 30 participants from local and international travel and tourism industry including Sabah Tourism Board, Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Hotel and Resort, Borneo Nature and Resort, Financial Park Labuan, Promenade Hotel, Sutera Harbour Resort, Hyatt Hotel, Sabah Tea Resort, Amazing Borneo and OTCINC Brunei attended. Meanwhile, Sabah Tourism has also placed emphasis on moving toward digital marketing efforts due to the rise in internet bookings and frequent travellers. “It is undeniably the channel is easier to reach new travellers. These days you will even find seniors making bookings online,” said its marketing manager, Cassie Forsythe adding that the training is relevant to officers as they begin to pursue this while working close with industry players. Australia is currently running a GoogleAdWords campaign and concurrently a destination awareness campaign on TripAdvisor UK, US, Germany and Australia. The course organiser, a regional training provider, CF Learning Services (Corporate Frontier) hopes that participants will learn how to make their organisations future proof in the online world. According to its founder, Grace Chin, CF Learning Services understands that digital marketing is crucial for the hospitality and tourism businesses in Sabah. She said that potential travellers are spending more time online, researching destinations and deals. “To reach these prospects at the right time, digital marketing has become a vital tool for modern hospitality and tourism businesses. “And, to get ahead and obtain a competitive advantage over their rivals, players in the hospitality and tourism industry need to adapt to and embrace new trends and changes in the digital marketing landscape, or they get left behind. “We hope that the industry players will take this opportunity to acquire the knowledge on how to implement Digital Marketing and increase their profitability. On the other hand, World Bank revealed that online hotel bookings in Malaysia are expected to grow at an annual rate of 14.6 per cent from 2017 to 2121, to an expected market volume of some RM5 billion in 2121. And, this is purely for online bookings, so any hotel or tourism business that is not online optimised runs the risk of not getting a slice of this pie. Source: New Sabah Times
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09Aug

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
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04Aug

20 locations identified for Visit K’gau Year 2018

Keningau: A total of 20 interesting locations in the Keningau district have been identified to be promoted among domestic and foreign tourists in conjunction with Visit Keningau Year 2018. Keningau District Officer Yusop Osman said the tourist destinations would not disappoint the travellers. "We assure everyone that these locations will not disappoint and will suit the tastes and preferences of domestic and foreign tourists alike," he said after chairing the Keningau Visit Year 2018 committee meeting, here, Thursday. Visit Keningau Year 2018 was proposed by Sabah Deputy Chief Minister and Keningau Member of Parliament Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan. Yusop said various programmes would be held every month throughout the year, including hiking to Bukit Trig, Bukit Kikiran and Bukit Lugas and other recreational activities at the waterfalls. He said Visit Keningau Year 2018 was created to promote interesting tourist locations in the district, apart from improving the socio-economic standard of the local population through art, agricultural products and culture. Yusop added that courses for operators of homestay facilities, hotels, taxi services and restaurants would also be conducted as part of the preparations for Visit Keningau Year 2018. Source: Daily Express
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04Aug

Kadamaian, Kiulu, Ranau and Tambunan set to be Sabah’s tourism hotspots

KOTA KINABALU: Four rural areas - Kadamaian (Kota Belud), Kiulu, Ranau and Tambunan - are being touted as Sabah's next big tourism spots. The four are the stars of the Sabah Rural Tourism Roadshow, happening today until Sunday at the Imago mall here. Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, at the launch of the roadshow today, said the areas, which promise fresh air and green surroundings, are just over an hour's drive away from the Kota Kinabalu city centre. He also noted that despite their close proximity, the districts remain largely rural. "The four areas became our initial focus as they have potential to attract local and foreign tourists," he said. He said the state government acknowledges that this initiative is a means to increase the livelihood of rural communities and provide an alternative income, but does not mean that the locals are giving up their traditional ways of life like farming. State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said 50 new tourism products such as camp sites, whitewater rafting and trekking areas are being showcased during the event. He commended the Kadamaian community for their high enthusiasm in developing their products, with about 40,000 people having visited the district in the first six months of this year. "Meanwhile, this is also Visit Tambunan Year, so the district received about 49,000 visitors in the same period. "If one tourist spends RM50 in Tambunan, we reckoned that nearly RM2.5 million ringgit in tourism receipts are generated there. "I hope other districts can emulate this," added Masidi. Source: New Straits Times
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03Aug

Rural Folks More Aware of Tourism Initiatives

Kota Kinabalu: There is stronger belief among rural folks that community-driven tourism initiatives can uplift their livelihood, create economic and job opportunities, particularly for their youths. One of the success stories comes from Kadamaian where communities have generated a total earning of RM300,000 in the first six months this year from various tourism products and services offered to domestic and foreign visitors. Their success is a huge statement of the State Government's efforts in promoting rural tourism in Sabah more aggressively since four years ago. "Since Datuk Seri Musa Aman became Chief Minister, tourism has been one of the State's core developments. "We have always been promoting rural tourism but not as aggressively as in the last four years. We in STB (Sabah Tourism Board) set up a rural tourism unit and one of our outcomes is seeing greater awareness among rural communities that tourism can be a source of revenue for them," said board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai when announcing the State's first Rural Tourism Roadshow during a press conference, Tuesday. To be held at Imago Shopping Mall from Aug 5-6, the event he said will unveil to the public what rural tourism in Sabah has to offer particularly Tambunan, Ranau, Kiulu and Kadamaian. "As awareness is growing, more villages and individuals ventured into tourism. Now after four years, it's time for them to show their products and services to the general public," he said. Kadamaian will woo visitors with products such as adventure-filled river activities, hiking trails, caves and waterfalls to name a few. According to Kadamaian Tourism Association (KATA) chairman Walter Duis Kandayon, visitors have a choice of at least 30 villages to explore and experience, each one with their own tourism products and services. He said although their initiatives started two years ago, they generated the six-figure revenue in the first six-month this year, a success the community never expected. "Having seen the results, now everyone's excited about tourism," he said. The profit has enabled the association to develop new tourism products and create economic and employment opportunity for some of their youths. "Ever since tourists have come to our villages, we've seen a growing number of stalls by the roadside. And some of our youths have been earning extra income as guides, life guards and office staff," said Walter. He hoped the upcoming event will get more people to know about rural tourism products in Kadamaian. So far their only means of promotion is through the social media. He also hoped to see more impact from tourism revenue to the livelihood of the community comprising mostly subsistence farmers in five years' time. Apart from Kadamaian, Kiulu is also looking forward to having bigger arrival of visitors to experience the many natural attractions available in the district. Kiulu Tourism Association Lasmin Lopog said the area is already well known for its water rafting activity in the Kiulu River, picnic spots, homestays and the latest activity, the Kiulu Riverside Tracking. Tourists he said will also be able to experience the natural environment and live in farm stays and rough terrains on quad bikes provided. He estimated that there has been an increase of visitors coming to explore tourism products in Kiulu including foreigners from 3,000 in 2016 to 5,000 this year. "The revenue generated from this will certainly benefit the community," he said. The Chief Minister had recently said it was timely that the world knows what the rural areas of Sabah can offer to visitors in terms of tourism products. "It is indeed very important to tell Sabah's rural story to the world including its natural attractions, rich cultural heritage and an array of tourism products. Developing rural tourism will also assist our rural folks in uplifting their livelihood," he had said. During the event there will be quizzes and games such as "butod" (sago worm) eating challenge, treasure hunt, traditional performances and children's activities. - Leonard Alaza and Jeremy Zabala Source: Daily Express
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