‘TAFI Convention, an added value for Sarawak’s foray into India market’
Sarawak, a less-crowded destination in Malaysia with an abundance of natural resources matches the travel behaviour of post-pandemic traveller in selecting the destination of choice. Dr. Fency Sivadasan, Senior Manager, Research Division, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), says that the tourism board is expecting the TAFI Convention as a pull factor to attract Indian outbound travellers to Sarawak due to its low population density, sustainable ecosystem, and authenticity.
Sarawak Tourism Board has taken various steps to create a sustainable tourism industry since 2011. Given its rich multi-ethnic culture, vast geographical landscape, and impressive biodiversity, Sarawak is a haven for modern tourists who prefer tailored tourism products that suit their interests and passions. STB’s primary focus during this post-pandemic travel is based on responsible tourism through sustainable actions.
Sarawak’s unique selling points are Culture, Adventure, Nature, Food, and Festival (CANFF). These are their signature products as well. For the cultural aspect, the state has 28 ethnic tribal communities. Tourists can able to experience their culture, traditions, food, and way of life. For adventure lovers, Sarawak offers a wide range of activities such as cave tours, mountain climbing, hiking in the national parks, trekking, and forest walk. Sarawak has been blessed with 47 national parks, and out of these, 34 national parks are open for visitors.
Stating the USPs of the biggest state of Malaysia, Fency shares, “The Gunung Mulu National Park, which is gazetted as UNESCO’s world heritage site in the year 2000, consists of one of the oldest caves around the world situated in Sarawak. The state has the oldest rainforests and different species of birds and animals. There are a lot of activities the tourists can enjoy and experience the rich flora and fauna of Sarawak through activities like bird watching, frog tours, forest walks, photography, and fishing. Sarawak’s longhouse and stay provide the tourists an abundance of joy and they can completely immerse themselves in the authentic culture and nature of Sarawak. The warm hospitality of the local communities gives an add-value to this experiential travel. The state’s two iconic festivals are Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) and Borneo Jazz Festival, where tourists enjoy the festivals in a unique venue in Sarawak Culture Village surrounded by dense rainforest.”
The main driving force of STB hosting the TAFI Convention 2022 in Kuching is to strengthen Sarawak’s presence in the India market and to enhance the visibility of Sarawak among Indian outbound travellers. “TAFI Convention is a platform for Sarawak tourism industry stakeholders to get to know about the trends and patterns of the Indian outbound tourist market, their food habits, and product preferences in Sarawak. Through this convention, our tour operators, travel agents, and accommodation providers might learn and understand “how to cater to Indian tourists” in the near future. We want to motivate Indian consumers to include Sarawak in their travel bucket list and to make it one of their favourite destinations. The convention will also work as a better platform for STB’s plan of direct airline connectivity from Sarawak to the tier 2 cities in India. Thus, the TAFI Convention gives an added value for Sarawak’s entry into the India market,” says Fency.
“Through TAFI Convention 2022, the Indian tourism stakeholders will also have a chance to understand that this lesserknown destination has a lot of tourism potential to explore. They can identify Sarawak’s political stability to make the state a business-friendly destination. STB foresees that, for the future events of TAFI, its members can able to choose Sarawak as the venue without any hesitation,” adds Fency.
The India market is one of STB’s new market focus since 2018. The statistics of visitor arrivals to Sarawak showed that this biggest consumer market placed as the top five contributing visitor arrivals to Sarawak. Hence, the Board gives topical importance to the marketing and promotion of Sarawak in the India market. Their data shows that 26,791 Indian tourists visited Sarawak in 2019.
The airline connectivity to Sarawak from India is via transit, either in Kuala Lumpur (KUL) airport or at the Singapore airport. Indian tourists who wish to visit Sarawak can use a Malaysia visa, which will be provided by the Malaysian consulate offices in India. They can use a tourist visa to enter Sarawak.
The current marketing strategy of STB is an integrated marketing approach (online and offline) for their promotions. Based on this, they promote their tourism products and activities to Indian outbound markets through product updates, webinars, and B2B sessions.
STB conducted the ‘Indian Tourism Stakeholders’ response survey about Sarawak during ITB India. About this survey, Fency reveals, “The survey results indicated that the Indian consumer’s tourism interests in Sarawak are, experiencing rainforests and mountains, national parks and wildlife tours, visiting caves and waterfalls, MICE/ Team building activities, adventure tours such hiking and mountain climbing, beach tour and sunset, orangutan rehabilitation and wildlife conservation. Hence, Sarawak Tourism’s tailor-made packages for Indian visitors are a mix of these offerings with warm hospitality and nature-friendly accommodation as well. With the same, Indian visitors can experience a fantastic holiday in Sarawak.”