Bringing the World to Sarawak

The cultural per-formance during the Gala Dinner cap-tures the audience

The success of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Meeting and International Ecotourism Colloquium which took place in Kuching from the 18-20 January 2002 marks another milestone in the State’s many achievements.

Over the recent years, the State has made many headlines in the world tourism news by winning awards after awards and this year, it achieved something that we can all be proud of - bringing the prestigious PATA Board of Directors Meeting to our shore.

And all this is made possible by the tireless and dedicated effort of several government agencies and NGOs. Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) played an instrumental role in bringing the PATA Board of Directors Meeting to Sarawak. According to its Public Affairs Manager, Tuan Haji Tuah Mohd Jais the State worked hard to lobby for the Meeting to be hosted by Sarawak. “There were several other countries very keen to host the event but we managed to convince them to come to Sarawak”, he added.

The Chief Minister being shown around the handicraft exhibition by Minister of Tourism, Dato Seri Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Openg

About 133 delegates from the Asia Pacific region attended the meeting which was held at a leading hotel in the city.

In conjunc-tion with the Meeting, an eco-tourism collo-quium entitled “Sustaining the business of ecotourism” was also held about the same time. Organised by the Sarawak Tourism Board and Sarawak Development Insti-tute, the colloquium was deemed as opportune consi-dering the United Nations’ declaration of Year 2002 as the Inter-national Ecotourism Year.

The colloquium was attended by about 200 local and foreign participants. Opening the colloquium was Tourism Minister, Dato Seri Abang Johari Tun Openg.

In his speech, Dato Seri said that the colloquium was to allow the State Government to learn from the experiences of participants from countries where the ecotourism sector was more advanced.

“Ecotourism is a serious issue for Sarawak and the State Government is determined to formulate a policy which will form the basis for the growth of the sector”, he explained. With this in mind, the government hoped that the working papers and input from the participants would be the foundation to formulate a policy for the ecotourism development in the State.

The Chief Minister delivering his keynote address

To show how serious the government is in developing this sector, at least 10% of the State’s 123,000 sq km land mass has been set aside as totally protected areas (TPA) for conservation and eco-tourism. According to the Permanent Secretary of the Sarawak Tourism Ministry, Abang Kashim Abang Morshidi, at least 19 more areas are being proposed as national parks thus adding to the existing 15 TPAs/national parks in the State.

Bringing in the prestigious PATA Meeting and organising a world class colloquium on ecotourism provided a platform to get the world to notice Sarawak and what it can offer to the global tourism industry.

It will also show them that the State are serious about sustainable management of its natural resources and although we would like to reap profits from this lucrative business of ecologically friendly tourism, the State Government will not do so at the expense of the environment. And that was what the State hope to gain from this gathering - learning from the mistake of others so that such pitfalls can be avoided.

VIPs at the eco-tourism colloquium. (L-R) Dato Seri Dr. James Jemut Masing, Dato Seri Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Openg, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr.) Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, Tan Sri Datuk Amar Alfred Jabu ak Numpang

The success of this event was the work of many but it was well worth the effort. The Sarawak Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism put in a lot of time and money to make this event a great success. The efforts of many NGOs who performed so beautifully for the Gala dinner at the Kuching Waterfront must also be applauded. Hundreds of dancers from various associations performed to the delights of the participants who enjoyed a sumptuous dinner at the Kuching Waterfront hosted by the State to welcome the participants.

What was clear was that the State is slowly but surely gaining recognition for its achievement More efforts are needed to highlight Sarawak and its many beautiful features and what better way to do them than by bringing the rest of world to Sarawak.