Brunei Airlines urged to promote Tawau, S’kan
TAWAU: The Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) inaugural flight to Tawau as a new route after Sandakan is a great addition for travellers to access the East Coast of Sabah.
Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Christina Liew said in recent years, RBA has also strengthened connectivity to other Asian countries and improved the London-Brunei route by reducing one stopover.
Christina said she hopes that RBA will also consider including the Sandakan and Tawau sectors in the promotion exercise that the airline once had which was an optional free stopover in Kota Kinabalu for any London to Melbourne or vice versa ticket purchase.
She said Sabah recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RBA for a UK marketing joint collaboration, and this move is timely as it can also include this new route from Brunei to Tawau in the campaign.
Generally, she said people know that Tawau is the gateway to Semporna. And while this is very much true, Tawau also has its unique sites such as the Tawau Hills which were built up by the Miocene to Late Pleistocene andesitic, basaltic and dacitic volcanic rocks or in layman’s term, the geological terrain of Tawau is much related to the past volcanic activity.
Geologically, the thick volcanic apron formed Mt Lucia, Mt Maria and Mt Magdalena which are all located within the Tawau Hills Park. And situated not too far off is the Kampung Balung Cocos Columnar Basalt which dates back to approximately 27,000 years ago, she said.
While geology may not be the prime reason for visitors, the natural attractions such as the nature trails and birding are what bring visitors to Tawau in droves, said Christina whose speech was read by Sabah Tourism Board (STB) general manager Noredah Othman.
Christina said she also looks forward to the establishment of the pangolin sanctuary which will be located in the Tawau Hills Park. It will be opened for tourists to visit.
For the past eight years, she said Tawau has consistently hosted the Tawau International Cultural Festival in March each year. This event focuses on showcasing the ethnic cultures of Sabah and would usually have some international dance troupes participating too. This year, we had troupes from Indonesia and Thailand.
Tawau also successfully held the first Tropical Rainforest Run in September this year which attracted more than 200 runners, with nine from Indonesia and six from Kenya. The run was set in the Tawau Hills Park, and the organizer anticipates attracting more trail runners for this event in the years to come, she said.
Christina said she hopes the media from Brunei will have a good experience with their familiarisation trip and called on them to compose a good story to attract more Bruneians to explore this part of Sabah.
She said Bruneians visit Kota Kinabalu, especially during the year end for shopping and holidaying. But now, they have even more options and accessibility to explore different parts of Sabah to enjoy the seafood offerings in Tawau, shopping experience at the Tanjung Pasar Market, banana chips, fried cashew nuts and fish crackers.
For those who like to get cheap pots and pans, the market is your haven, she said.
Christina thanked RBA for its consideration to expand its route, and looks forward to mutually encouraging both Bruneians and Sabahans to visit our neighbouring countries.
Meanwhile, Assitant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, Datuk Jimmy Wong said he hopes the RBA inaugural flight will give a positive impact to Tawau.
Also present during the welcoming ceremony held at the Tawau Airport’s VIP lounge were RBA’s Senior Vice-President Revenue Management, Louis Du Plessis, Tawau Municipal Council secretary Joseph Pang, Malaysia Airports Sdn Bhd general manager Kamaruzzaman Razali, Tawau Airport manager Tuan Haji Hasbi Haji Mohd Said, Noredah and STB board member Marunda Apong.