Malaysia's Labuan Offers Tourist Agencts Cash Incentive to Help Bring in More Tourists

By Jailani Hasan LABUAN (Sabah), June 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysian-registered tourist agents will soon heave a sigh of relief as Labuan will be offering a cash incentive to those who bring tourists to the island in east Malaysia's state of Sabah. The incentive of RM30 (US$7) per person with a minimum of one-day visit and stay at any hotel here, is only offered to those registered with Yayasan Pembangunan Labuan (YPL), effective July 1. Member of Parliament for Labuan, Rozman Isli said the allocation for the incentive had been approved by the Federal Territories Ministry while YPL would be responsible for the incentive payment. “The ministry has set aside RM200,000 (US$46,870) for the incentive to help revive the island’s tourism sector, and we hope it will pave the way for massive tourism promotion for the island by the tourist agents,” he said at a press conference after chairing the Labuan Tourism Action Committee meeting, here, last night. He said the agents must also hire local tourist guides to be eligible for the incentive. Rozman who is also chairman of the local authority, Labuan Corporation, said he was optimistic of the long-term prospects for the island’s travel and tourism industry. “The travel industry needs to take a long-term approach. The emerging economies offer a lot of opportunities, while there are still opportunities in the mature tourism countries; they just need to be tailored to the trends and circumstances,” he said. Rozman said tourists from developed countries would still continue to travel, but they would just seek out cheaper alternatives in the future. “It is very hard for people to give up travelling, so they will look for cheaper options such as short breaks or low-cost holidays. We hope we can offer up to their expectations,” he said. Rozman said the government had adopted certain approaches for the promotion of tourism in Labuan, including a new mechanism for speedy implementation of tourism projects, development of integrated tourism and iconic places, and new marketing strategies. “Labuan is proud to have a number of heritage sites spread over the length and breadth of the island. “They are so diverse, with each site offering something unique to the tourist to savour and these can be better marketed to draw leisure tourists who wish to catch a glimpse of our varied and rich cultural history,” he said . Labuan MCA (political party) chairman Chin Hon Vui said: “There is a lot of word of mouth that goes around about our island lately, for instance, our scuba dive sites, one of which, the Cement Wreck has been recognised internationally as one of the best wreck dive sites in the world.” Chin who had brought in several groups of Chinese tourists to the island early this year, said if many in the world still had a picture of Labuan being an expensive place, they had only half the story. “Admittedly, there’s much we need to do to get rid of this image by improving our hospitality industry, but we have been blessed with many positives. “I am confident that given the thrust by the government, over the coming years many tourists will visit our island and take back happy memories of their time here,” he said. -- BERNAMA Copy