STB partners LVG to offer e-learning system to tourism professionals
KUCHING: The Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts of Sarawak Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has announced the partnership between Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) and Lotus Voyager Group (LVG) in offering a European-based e-learning platform.
The system is meant to educate local tourism professionals on Sarawak being a tourism destination and also its tourism products.
“Reportedly the world’s first learning management system for travel professionals, I am proud that Sarawak is the first state in Malaysia to take this opportunity, through LVG’s learning platform, to connect and collaborate with tourism professionals around the world,” he said prior to launching the board’s online data management platform, STB InTel, and the e-learning platform run in partnership with LVG, here yesterday.
According to the minister, five modules have been established under the e-learning initiative to highlight the wonders of Sarawak’s culture, adventure, nature, food and festivals (CANFF) segment.
“The modules will take participants through an exciting and detailed tour of Sarawak and why they should make Sarawak a priority when it comes to the destinations that they offer,” he said.
The modules are ‘Module 1: Welcome to Sarawak’; ‘Module 2: Northern Sarawak – The New Horizon’; ‘Module 3: Central Sarawak – Feel The Rhythm’; ‘Module 4: Southern Sarawak – Find The Mysteries’; and ‘Module 5: Explore Activities and Hotels in Sarawak’.
“Following the launch of the modules in early April, there are currently 1,346 outbound tour operators in the region ready to enrol in the course, and over 10,000 selective travel agents are expected to be trained under the course by the year-end.
“The programme will assign 1,000 new users for the course every month, with promotions being lined up in India, the Nordic market and the UK in the months to come,” said Abdul Karim.
The minister said as part of the continuation to train locals to be well-equipped and becoming ‘Sarawak Ambassadors’, the STB-LVG partnership would provide good opportunity to train potential international travel agents via the ‘Sarawak Destination Course’.
In conjunction with the announcement of the partnership, Abdul Karim also officiated at the launch of online data management platform, STB InTel, yesterday.
Together with the STBLVG e-learning platform, this data-based initiative would enhance Sarawak’s destination visibility globally through digital strategies and at the same time, it would also position STB as an organisation set upon moving towards ‘smart tourism’, in line with the state government’s digital transformation agenda.
STB InTel would be accessible via www.sarawaktourism.com.
Adding on, Abdul Karim said aside from generating marketing intelligence via STB InTel, engagement sessions would be held to enable tourism stakeholders and industry players provide feedback meant to improve the usability and effectiveness of the data-sharing dashboard interface.
“With a tourism industry increasingly driven by data and innovation, we hope to tackle current challenges, identify the potential tourism markets, and create more sustainable practices,” he added.
Meanwhile, STB digital director Melvin Jong described STB InTel as ‘a one-stop platform for statistics on tourism’, adding that it was initially developed in 2019 for STB’s internal consumption.
“However, STB InTel was opened up to tourism stakeholders in April 2022 to provide marketing intelligence that can aid promotions and development of tourism products.”
Jong also pointed out that signing up for the data-sharing platform would require authorisation from STB, with different access levels to be granted to different users.
He said STB InTel should provide a good gauge of public awareness and interest in the state’s ongoing promotions and campaign, and also able to monitor year-on-year figures, ‘share of voice’ comparisons and online ratings of Sarawak tourism products, such as those marked by popular travel app, Tripadvisor.
“STB has its own e-learning programmes, such as the ‘Sarawak Ambassadors’ programme, to train Grab divers into becoming ‘ambassadors’ of Sarawak, with a total of 2,191 drivers having completed the course in July last year.