Chamber launches Dayak homestays website

KUCHING: Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas yesterday launched a website of the Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry for homestay operators to promote and market their business.

He lauded the initiative of the DCCI in initiating the ‘Dayak Homestays in Sarawak’ website, saying it was timely and in tandem with the digital economy agenda of the state government.

“The digital economy is obviously the way forward for the state under the current Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg,” he said.

“We are all fully aware of the fast development of ecommerce as a new form of marketing to today’s business world,” he added.

Uggah said that through digital marketing, local businesses could gain access to the world market, thus expanding their market horizon beyond their own territory which could not be done using the conventional way of doing business.

Uggah said the website could be a powerful resource in the marketing of products and services online, and added that in developing the website there was a need to be very clear of the marketing goals and objectives.

“Obviously, the marketing goal of having websites is to increase sales or customer traffic. However, you will quickly find they are meaningless if you don’t assess the objectives necessary to achieve the results you want.

A successful site, he said, required an effective, sustained marketing strategy beyond presenting a collection of products, services, images, videos or other files.

Thus, he said, the website design should be focused on specific goals along with measurable objectives to attain them.

“To generate more leads, you need to focus on attractively showcasing the unique culture and environment and the way of life of our people that you want your visitors to experience,” he added.

To increase sales, he said, it was imperative that the website content was well-organised and user-friendly in order to optimise search and increase the conversation rate.

Uggah reminded homestay operators that they competed with entrepreneurs around the world and, as such, they had to be creative in promoting their products and services to attract tourists to their homestay facilities.

“We have attractions which a lot of countries do not have,” he said, adding that they should capitalise on these attractions and he hoped that homestays would become one of the important industries in Sarawak.

He said the state government was spending RM1 billion on the digital infrastructure in the state to increase Internet speed, including in the interior parts of the state such as Mulu.

Thus, he said it was hoped that DCCI could benefit from the programme and make recommendations to the government on certain areas that needed high speed Internet connectivity.

He said tourists visiting the state would definitely want their smartphones to be connected to the Internet. - Bernama