The Sarawak tourism secretariat has received 200 nominees for various categories of the 6th Sarawak Hornbill Tourism Awards 2013/2014. The award night cum gala dinner will be held on Nov 15 at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here, starting 6pm. Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem will be the guest of honour.

Sarawak Housing and Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Haji Johari Tun Openg said there will be nine main categories and 40 sub-categories for this year’s awards. “This year’s committee is also introducing Special Recognition under Outstanding Destination Management Company for Foreign Partners taking care of Europe Market, ASEAN Market and North East Asia Market,” he told reporters after chairing the organising committee meeting here today.

The main categories are Outstanding Hotel and Accommodation Providers, Outstanding Destination Management Company, Outstanding Tourist Guides, Outstanding Food Outlet, Outstanding Cottage Industry Contribution to the Tourism Industry, Outstanding Transport Contribution to the Tourism Industry, Outstanding Media Contribution to the Local Industry, Outstanding Tourism Attractions and Events and Hornbill Special Award/Minister’s Award.

As an effort to maintain a high degree of standard and fairness of quality practices, the committee adopted the following categories for the Sarawak Hornbill Tourism Awards 2013/2014.

1) Outstanding Hotel Accommodation Providers:

1.1  5 Star

1.2  4 Star

1.3  3 Star

1.4  2 1 Star and Orchid Rated

1.5  Homestay

1.6. Boutique

1.7. Bed and Breakfast (B B)

2) Outstanding Destination Management Company (DMC):

2.1 Best Creative Tourism Package

2.2 Domestic (Peninsular Malaysia Sabah)

3) Outstanding Tourist Guides:

3.1 City / Heritage Guide

3.2 Nature Guide

3.3 Park Guide

4) Outstanding Food Outlets:

4.1 Restaurant

4.2 Café/ Bistro

4.3 Food Court

4.4 Kopitiam

5) Outstanding Cottage Industry Contribution to the Tourism Industry:

5.1 Handicraft Souvenir Outlet

5.2 Cottage Industry – Food

5.3 Cottage Industry – Souvenir Products

5.4 Artisans

5.5 Best Craft Promoter

6) Outstanding Transport Contribution to the Tourism Industry:

6.1. Taxi Limousine Services

6.2. Express/Public Bus

6.3. Express/Excursions Boat

6.4. Longboat/Speedboat

7) Outstanding Media Contribution to the Local Industry:

7.1. Online Media – Malaysia

7.2. Online Media – International

7.3. Print Articles – Malaysia

7.4. Print Articles – International

7.5. Photography

7.6. Tourism Related Videos (Social Media / Short Film Documentary )

8) Outstanding Tourism Attractions Events:

8.1. Attractions – National Park Nature Reserves

8.2. Attractions – Recreational Park Garden

8.3  Events Festivals

8.4. Heritage Attractions

9) Hornbill Special Award / Minister’s Award:

9.1. Individual

9.2. Organization

Abang Johari who is the chairman of the organising committee and chairman of the main selection committee said winners will each receive a 6th Sarawak Hornbill Tourism Award 2013/2014 trophy, certificate, RM5,000 cash and marketing incentive of RM3,000 for promotion and marketing at the venue. He said the winner of the Hornbill Special Award will receive the 6th Sarawak Hornbill Award 2013/2014 trophy, certificate and RM10,000 cash, an increase from RM7,000, from the fifth edition of the award.

Abang Johari said the Sarawak Hornbill Tourism Award is an award to express appreciation to individuals and organisations who contributed towards the development of the tourism sector in Sarawak. “It is also an award to create a culture of excellence, creativity, quality service and best practices among the tourism sector players in Sarawak,” he added.

Meanwhile, Johari announced that Kuching has been chosen to host the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) from Nov 12-16 next year which will see some 750 foreign delegates converging in Kuching. He said this will be the first time such a meeting, which focuses on MICE market, will be held in Malaysia after three earlier bidding attempts. – Borneo Post for Sarawak Hornbill Tourism Awards 2015 Draws 200 Entries.

Citrawarna, Kuala Lumpur

The signature tourism event of Malaysia, with a fresh brand and concept, Citrawarna@Kuala Lumpur, is back to enthrall audiences in a whole new way! Mark the date on your calendar and join us for a spectacular night of lights sound, dance and culture with over 600 performers and firework display that celebrates Malaysia truly Asia!

 

Date: 17th October 2015

Venue: Merdeka Square

Organizer: Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia

It is really amusing as we discover the ancient sites in Melaka such that during the tour we are unable to realize the tiredness of viewing the ancient sights of Melaka. Penang is also one of the state of Malaysia just like Melaka; after exploring Melaka being in Malaysia we must travel to visit Penang as well, which is only located at the distance of 510 km or 315 miles away from Melaka.

The common aspect between Melaka and Penang is that, Georgetown, the capital of Penang Melaka are both UNESCO world heritage sites, so there are plenty of heritage sites to explore in Penang as well.

You will find a major number of population in the rural area in Penang i.e. Balik Pulau and Telok Kumbar and in the lower urban parts are areas like Tanjang Tokong, Kampong Melayu Air Itam and Perak road where cosmopolitan culture is settled like Indians; scattered in Gelugar, Bayan Baru and Tanjong Bunga. In the whole urban area all the Chinese majority dwells; those areas are renowned as Butterworth and Mukit Mertajam.

Bus from Melaka to Penang

To travel from Melaka to Penang by bus is certainly economical and enjoyable if you really wanted to enjoy the tour by bus from Melaka to Penang in six hours and thirty minutes then you may grab some of the bus services as mentioned under:

  • Billion Stars departs from Melaka Sentral around 8:30am and arrives at two destinations in Penang at Butterworth and Sungai Nibong.
  • There are consecutive two Transnasional bus services that will take you from Melaka Sentral at the time 8:30am 8:30pm and reach in Penang at Butterworth.
  • Cepat Cekap Express departs in two different timings that are 11:30am and 12:15pm from Melaka Sentral and Alor Gajah and both of them reaches in Butterworth.

It is thus remarked as immensely adventurous to travel by bus from Melaka to Penang because the original history of Malaysian Peninsula can only be studied if we come to know in reality by travelling through and observing each and every state of the island being discovered by the major historians.

For instance, the reality of Malaysian Island can be vastly studied by discovering its three major states that are Melaka, Penang and Kuala Lumpur as the settling of Chinese culture, emanation of British, growth of the sultans of Melaka and its independence are certainly observed in the above mentioned states.

In order to take the chance of viewing the adventurous and ancient sites by taking the bus from Melaka to Penang you can also avail direct bus services that are available in Melaka Sentral towards Penang Island. Remember that it is certainly necessary that due to avoid rush of passengers you must come earlier to Melaka Sentral and avail the bus service as per convenience of travelling.

To reach the Penang Island in a bus you may impeccably take the pleasure of viewing the beautiful ancient sites of Malaysian Peninsular. Like Melaka you will come to know that Penang is also the second beautiful ancient Island of Malaysian strait where you fully get equipped with the historic nature of the peninsula such that if you choose to reach in Butterworth you will innumerably find plenty of tourists here.

If you have traveled from Malacca to Penang and would like to share your experience, please do so by adding comments below. To learn more about Penang, here is a recommended Penang travel guide.

10th Sabah International Folklore Festival 2015

SIFF provides the opportunities for the culture enthusiast to enjoy and witness the beauty and uniqueness of cultural folk dance performances by various ethnics of the world. SIFF is truly an East-West Cultural rendezvous which aims to promote peace through culture.

Organizer: Sabah Cultural Board

Event Venue: Sabah Cultural Centre, Penampang

Contact Person: Joisin Romut

088 259457, 088 268851

088 264235

Email: jromut@yahoo.co.uk, Joisin.Romut@sabah.gov.my,

Website : ww2.sabah.gov.my

Tourism Malaysia News

This roundup of Tourism in Malaysia news is for 7-8 July collected from various online sources.

Taxi industry must buck up or put up with Uber, GrabCar

In a sobering blog entry about the less than satisfactory standards of the local taxi industry, chairman of the Malaysian Tourism and Promotion Board Wee Choo Keong said that unless they buck up in term of service, competitors such as Uber and GrabCar will continue taking a big chunk of their market share.

Wee, a former MP, said, “Until the local taxi industry improves its quality of service, which includes their drivers’ appearance, attitude and taxi conditions, I honestly don’t see services like Uber and GrabCar ‘going away’. After all, many people love it! It’s all about demand and supply.”

He was commenting on the report by the London Cabs portal that placed Malaysian taxi drivers at the top of the list of “10 countries with the worst taxi drivers in the world.” He said this dismal rating would have an adverse effect on tourism and while he personally believed our taxi drivers were not the “worst in the world”, they were admittedly still “quite bad”.

Full Story: Free Malaysia Today.

Ringgit’s dive expected to boost travel to Malaysia

THE Malaysian ringgit hit a fresh low of RM 2.81 against the Singapore dollar on Monday, which could further lift tourist volumes into Singapore’s neighbour. The currency has depreciated to its lowest level against the Sing dollar since 1981, due in part to domestic concerns.

The recent fall in oil prices as well as intensifying political uncertainty in Malaysia over allegations that Prime Minister Najib Razak misappropriated funds are contributing to the ringgit’s latest slump. Conversely, the Sing dollar has remained quite resilient.

“Global sentiment had been weighed by the ‘No’ vote from the weekend Greek referendum and this acted as a depressant for Asian currencies,” said FX strategist at OCBC Bank, Emmanuel Ng. “The Malaysian ringgit had the additional baggage of the negative weekend news flow, resulting in the SGD-MYR pushing higher.”

Full Story: Business Times Singapore.

Sabah Parks director disappointed over unethical behaviour of some dive operators

Sabah Parks will be engaging four dive marshals for Sipadan next month to monitor activities within the diving spots in the area. Its director, Dr Jamili Nais, said that Sabah Parks was also in discussion with environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO)  Reef Check Malaysia regarding the implementation of a certification mechanism for ethical diving, such as the ‘Green Fin’ certification programme.

“I read with concern the social media postings regarding the unethical behaviour of some dive operators and their foreign tourists, handling and harassing marine life such as marine turtles, coral fishes, puffer fish and starfishes,” said Jamili, referring to the several photographs of divers harassing marine life which allegedly took place off Semporna.

Stressing that Sabah Parks would continue with its ethical diving awareness and education programme, he said the recent act that went viral on the social media was uncalled for and that Sabah Parks strongly condemned the unethical behaviour of some visitors harassing marine life within or outside the Park.

Full Story: The Rakyat Post.

More Indonesian visitors expected in Malaysia after Hari Raya

Malaysian inbound tour agencies are projecting a rise in post-Hari Raya business from the Indonesian market. Agencies that TTG Asia e-Daily interviewed predicted business to be better than last year, with the weakened ringgit driving demand. Pent-up demand is also fuelling travel, as some had held back their plans to holiday last year due to Indonesia’s general election.

Nanda Kumar, managing director of Hidden Asia Travel Tours, said he is anticipating a 10 per cent increase in business events travel to Malaysia this year, with five bookings already confirmed. He expects a pick-up in leisure family travel as well, with Genting, Kuala Lumpur and Legoland Malaysia in Johor Bahru being favourite destinations.

Arokia Das, senior manager, Luxury Tours Malaysia, said: “This year, post-Raya will definitely be stronger than last year. We expect leisure business to increase by at least 35 per cent year-on-year during the Lebaran holiday and MICE by at least 18 per cent post-Raya.

Full Story: TTG Asia.

Malaysia aims for 10% increase in medical tourists in 2015

The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) is working hard to increase medical tourism industry revenue. The Health Ministry says that medical tourism contributed RM730 million in revenue in 2014,and they want to increase this by 10% in 2015.

In Malaysia Penang gets most medical tourists, with the other key regions being Kuala Lumpur and Melaka. Johor state claims 27,500 medical tourists in 2012, 31,000 in 2013 and 33,700 in 2014 based on the number of patients, and this does not include chaperones, family members and visiting friends and relatives. Singaporeans are able to use their Central Provident Fund savings and insurance at hospitals, contributing to the rise in medical tourism. The Health Ministry wants more private hospitals to join MHTC. Numerous promotional efforts are being undertaken by MHTC.

Full Story: International Medical Travel Journal.

Sabah Handicraft Targets RM250,000 In Sales Revenue

The Sabah branch of the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation targets RM250,000 in collection from the sales of 69 entrepreneurs during the 18 days of Colourful Aidilfitri Craft Promotion. State Tourism, Culture and Environment assistant minister, Datuk Kamarlin Ombi said the target exceeds last year’s sales by RM130,574.90.

“The promotion is being hosted for the third time in conjunction with the forthcoming Aidilfitri celebrations comprising 64 entrepreneurs from Sabah, four from Sarawak and one from the Peninsula,” he said at a press conference in conjunction with the state-level event at Lintasan Deasoka.

Full Story: Bernama News.

Johor Hotel Industry Urged To Promote Local Food, Culture To Attract More Tourists

The hotel industry has been urged to intensify efforts to promote local food and culture in order to attract more tourists. State Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs chairman, Datuk Tee Siew Kiong said this was because the hotel industry was the right platform to introduce local cuisine, culture and food. “Johor features a wide range of cuisine, food and a unique culture which can attract local and international tourists. Most tourists who enjoy local food here will definitely come back,” he told reporters at the launch of ‘Citarasa Kampung Kita’ at a hotel, here, yesterday.

According to Tee, 6.42 million people visited the state last year, exceeding the original target of 4.9 million people. He was confident that active promotion by hotel operators in the state can increase tourist arrivals this year too, particularly in conjunction with the Malaysia Year of Festivals (MyFest) 2015. The ‘Citarasa Kampung Kita’ programme will allow the state to showcase its culinary prowess and dishes like ‘otak-otak’, ‘mi bandung Muar’, Johor laksa and ‘nasi briyani gam’. The programme can also realise the strategic cooperation between the government and the private sector, to spice up the country’s tourism industry. – Bernama.

Mt Kinabalu to reopen to climbers this September

Mount Kinabalu is expected to be reopened to climbers in early September, said Sabah Minister for Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun. The mountain, which stands at 4,095 metres, was closed to climbers following an earthquake in the state on June 5 that claimed the lives of 18 people comprising climbers and mountain guides. Masidi said, however, the number of people on the mountain at any one time would be reduce by about half, from 192 to about 90, in the early stages of its reopening to climbers.

“The safety of climbers is of utmost priority. We do not want to take a risk by maintaining the number as in the past,” he told reporters after handing over contributions to the victims of the June 5 earthquake. The earthquake, of magnitude 5.9, caused rocks and boulders to tumble from the mountain, killing the 18 people, and damaged property in the district of Ranau and surrounding areas. – Bernama.

Malaysia Airlines axes Brisbane flights, trims Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth

Qantas partner Malaysia Airlines will cease flying from its Kuala Lumpur hub to Brisbane this year, and also looks to be reducing its services to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Brisbane – Malaysia Airlines will axe its daily Brisbane (MH134/135) service from August 9.

Sydney will see flights reduced from triple-daily to double-daily as the airline drops MH143 from August 3 and return leg MH142 from August 4. These were same flights suspended earlier this month as Malaysia Airlines’ A380s temporarily appeared on Sydney flights.

Melbourne is also cut from three flights to two each day, dropping MH147 from August 2 and KL-bound MH146 from August 3.

Adelaide will be trimmed back to four flights a week with the cancellation of MH136 to Kuala Lumpur on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from August 10 and MH139 home to Adelaide on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays from August 9.

Perth’s five-times-weekly flights (MH126/127) have also been removed from sale on the airline’s website beyond August 15, while the city’s daily MH124/125 flights remain untouched.

A Malaysia Airlines spokesperson confirmed to Australian Business Traveller that its Brisbane flights were on the chopping block, but is yet to advise whether the changes observed on its Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth routes are temporary or permanent.

Full Story: Australian Business Traveller.