Program to prepare for Visit Penampang Year
PENAMPANG: The “We are the Host’ (WATH) programme, a course held to enhance the hospitality and tourism marketing skills of its participants, was held at the Penampang Library here on Thursday.
The programme, among others, was to prepare the communitybased tourism site operators for the upcoming Visit Penampang Year.
Organising chairman, Benjamin Golimbi said the course would assist participants on how to receive guests who might visit their tourism spot.
The course was co-organised by Penampang Tourism Association and UPPM Penampang.
The move came about following a recent discovery by the Penampang Tourism Association that all of the tourism sites initiated by the local communities in the district were not ready to accept an influx of arrivals, said Golimbi, who is also the association’s president.
“Although Sabahans are known for their friendliness, courtesy and helpfulness, they often shy away when it comes to communicating with foreigners.
“This is largely due to the language barrier. This usually turns off tourists,” he said.
Golimbi said the area tourist spot operators still have a lot of catching up to do in terms of development of the district tourism industry.
Although language barrier seemed to be a problem to tourism operators in countries like Thailand, Cambodia and others, he said, the Thais and Cambodians were still successful, all thanks to their friendliness and ‘ready to serve attitude.’
Meanwhile, Moyog assemblywoman Jenifer Lasimbang who is also the association’s patron, expressed support for Penampang Tourism Association and their programmes towards developing the Penampang tourism industry.
WATH is also supported by the Sabah Tourism Board.
The one-day course was held from 8am to 5pm and was attended by some 60 participants, who mostly operate their own ecotourism joint.
According to Golimbi, 25 participants were selected to attend a familiarisation trip to Kadamaian in Kota Belud, which was recently awarded Asean Community Tourism in Hanoi, Vietnam.