Homestay operators advised to promote product, services via social media
KUCHING: Homestay operators in Puncak Borneo are advised to make full use of social media to promote their products and services.
In making the call, Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin said these operators could no longer rely on conventional ways of doing business; instead, they should utilise new technologies in this digital era.
“Homestay operators must move forward in this new era and through digital marketing or social media, their business can reach out to the global market faster,” he said after officiating at the launch of ‘Sarawak Next Paradise Homestay Workshop 2018’ at Kampung Taba Sait community hall in Bengoh Resettlement Scheme ( BRS) last Saturday, conducted by UCSI University Sarawak Campus and MyCenTHE Sarawak Region.
Willie added that homestay operators must also be creative and innovative in terms of adding value to and enhancing their products and services.
“Here in Puncak Borneo, there are plenty of tourism products like kayaking and jungle trekking – we also have hot springs.
“So the homestay operators must tap into the potential of all the tourism products in the area,” he pointed out.
Willie also advised local homestay operators to register their business to enable easy monitoring by the ministry overseeing tourism.
Meanwhile, UCSI University’s Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism dean Prof Dr Kashif Hussain said tourist arrivals to Malaysia last year amounted to 25.95 million, generating almost RM82.1 billion in revenues.
According to him, of the figure some 383,000 tourists, both domestic and international, chose to stay at homestays.
Kashif said the university is working with various ministries, local councils, villages and homestay owners to improve the quality of homestays in Sarawak.
UCSI University Sarawak Campus chief operating officer Mukvinder Sandhu, Rafidah Ahmad Shafiee from Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, and Councillor Paul Akiu Banat representing Dayak Bidayuh National Association, were also present.