Tasik Biru Fest has potential to attract more visitors — Minister
BAU: Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah hopes to see an increase in the number of participants and visitors to Tasik Biru Festival in the future.
He said the annual festival has great potential to become a major tourism product and wanted it be developed further to attract foreign visitors as well.
Abdul Karim said this when he officially launched the festival here yesterday adding the event can boost local economy if more people come to Bau during the festival.
“I believed members of the community who are involved in agriculture and other business activities will be very happy because they can sell their goods during the festival. Aside from that, through this festival we can introduce Bau and its surrounding areas to the outside world.
“For now, Tasik Biru Festival is just for domestic tourism but we can plan for the future properly. So let us do something to make the festival one of the best tourist destinations, not only in Bau but also in Kuching,” he said.
Abdul Karim acknowledged that Bau itself has much to offer, be it in terms of history, natural beauty, ethnic diversity, effort to unite the people or the physical, socio and economic development.
He noted that Bau is one place where one can see lots of hills and mountains, caves, lake, limestones and waterfall, to name a few.
“All these can be developed and promoted to become good tourism destinations that are good for both domestic and international visitors. The advantage of Bau is its proximity to Kuching which is just half an hour by bus,” he added.
Abdul Karim said Bau is like a diamond in the rough, which can become a very interesting and attractive place to visit.
He said the people in Bau can learn from the Siniawan experience.
“Siniawan used to be a ghost town. Nobody went to Siniawan but today it has become a very popular weekend destination for both locals and foreign diners,” he said.
Abdul Karim suggested tourism companies include the interesting places in Bau in their tour packages when they plan visits for foreign tourists to Kuching.
He believed foreigners would love some of the places in Bau.
Numerous programmes and activities are lined up for Tasik Biru Festival 2018 which runs from Sept 28-30.
They include courses and talks, sale of agriculture products, handicraft and souvenirs, video game competition, lucky draws, Zumba session, ethnic gong performance, street soccer, exhibitions, telematches, Muay Thai competition, Jong Regatta, beauty pageant, auto show and cycling tour.
Tasik Biru assemblyman Datuk Henry Harry Jinep, Kuching Resident Ismail Mohd Hanis, Bau District Officer Anielia Siam and Bidayuh Temenggong for Kuching Division Austin Dimin were also present.