Sarawak needs a cohesive tourism brand

BY SULOK TAWIE

KUCHING: A compelling tagline branding for a tourism campaign plays a pivotal role in projecting a mesmerising tourism destination to the eyes of the world.

Managing Director of Borneo Adventure Philip Yong has called on the Sarawak Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Ministry to come up with good branding for Sarawak to further boost the tourism industry.

He said that branding should reflect what Sarawak really needs to stand out as to be a vibrant tourism destination.

“The way we brand Sarawak is through promoting the indigenous people with dance costumes overseas,” he said, stressing that it has attracted unfavourable comments from overseas tourists.

“But of course, it is just a gimmick to promote Sarawak,” Yong, a former Sarawak Tourism Federation (STF), said in an interview.

He said Malaysia used to have a tagline “Malaysia, truly Asia” in its tourism campaign.

“It is a good brand. When I went overseas and I said I came from Malaysia, people would say “Oh, truly Asia! It is so effective to promote Malaysia,” he added.

He said he does not think that promoting Sarawak as a “Gateway to Borneo” is not a good idea.

“I am sorry. When you say “Gateway to Borneo”, people (foreign visitors) don’t think of Kuching, but Kota Kinabalu.

“I mean look at the overseas direct flights to Kota Kinabalu from Northeast Asia. How many flights they get? From China, I think it is about 20 to 30 flights a week, and then from Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

“Here in Kuching, how many direct international flights do we have? Not even one from Northeast Asia.

“So, how can we call ourselves gateway to Borneo. I think we have been outsmarted by Sabah. Absolutely, in my opinion, when we promote a gateway to Borneo, we are actually promoting Sabah,” he said.

He said the only direct international flights to Kuching are from Jakarta, Singapore and Brunei.

“It is up to the people to think (what is the best branding for Sarawak). I have been in the tourism business a long time and I have time to think about these things,” he said.

He noted that China, with its huge population, is a good market for Sarawak, adding that many of them are nature lovers.

Yong also hopes to see the Sarawak Airlines that the state government plan to set up will help to promote the state tourism industry further.

“We will see the results over the next five to 10 years,” he said.

However, he felt that the “international departure lounge” at the Kuching International Airport (KIA) was not at par with the status of welcoming international tourists.

“There is no departure lounge to speak of. There are no chairs for people to sit on,” he commented although he said the general overview of the airport is quite okay.

“The question is how we are going to accept large number of international visitors if the airport has a substandard facility?” he added.

On the proposed new Kuching International Airport as being announced by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg recently, Yong said it was important to have a new international airport.

“I have always said that we need more direct flights from Kuching to foreign destinations. The Kuching-Kuala Lumpur route is a very lucrative sector. I am not sure many flights per day between Kuching-Kuala Lumpur now, but during pre-Covid days, there were 23 per day,” he said.