As Sarawak pursues its socio-economic transformation through the digital economy, players in the tourism sector need to take advantage of digital technology to market the State’s tourism and boost its competitiveness of tourism in ASEAN and beyond.
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports YB Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah noted this during the official launch of the Digital Tourism Forum 2018 at Pullman Hotel, Kuching on 9th March 2018, where he represented Chief Minister YAB Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg.
He added that the use of digital technology in the sector will “improve the capability to create more business opportunities for digital tourism businesses.”
As such, he urged the private sector to “facilitate and create a platform for Sarawak to share information, explore business opportunities and create bilateral trades with ASEAN and other countries in Asia.”
“It is therefore my fervent hope that the ACEA Digital Tourism Forum could be a platform for us to start smart partnerships among ASEAN countries and the greater Asian region in promoting digital tourism for mutual growth and benefit,” he said of the one-day forum.
The forum saw delegates from ASEAN countries as well as Australia and China attending presentations by ambassadors and ambassador-representatives from Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand on the tourism sector in these countries.
Also during the event were the launching of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) Integrated Digital Tourism application, and the collaboration between UNIMAS and Digital Economy Hub (DEH) for the Robotics Automation Certification.
