Saturday, March 10, 2018

SarawakTourism told to capitalise on digital technology


KUCHING: Local research institutions and industry players have been called to work together in bringing Sarawak tourism to another level in order to compete in digital economy.

According to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, local tourism along with other sectors must capitalise on digital technology to market tourism.

In this regard, the state government would have to plan and implement initiatives meant to boost the competitiveness of the tourism industry players in Sarawak, integrating them into global digital value chains and improving their abilities and capabilities to create more business opportunities from digital tourism.

“We should be looking seriously at digital marketing strategies, online reputation, the use of social media and also that of mobile phones throughout the customer’s experience. We should also be looking into regulations to ensure a level-playing field, big data ownership and access to technology,” he said in his speech read by Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah at the opening of ‘Digital Tourism Forum 2018’ here yesterday.

Apart from that, Abang Johari also stressed the importance for those in the corporate sector to facilitate and create platforms for Sarawak to share information, cross-inspire, explore business opportunities and create bilateral trades with Asean and other countries in the surrounding region.

On the forum, the chief minister viewed it as a platform for Sarawak to set up smart partnerships among members of Asean and other Asian countries in promoting digital tourism slated for Sarawak’s mutual growth and benefits.

“I am happy to know that the Asean-China Entrepreneurs Association (ACEA) has created a strategic partnership with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in hosting the forum. I would like to congratulate the organising team for being able to organise the forum for the second  time and gather all like-minded people in areas of digital tourism in Asean, China and other countries.

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