Saturday, February 25, 2006

Aussie city keen to learn from KK’s tourism success


KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu’s tourism success has caught the attention of an Australian city official.

Rockingham mayor Barry Sammels is keen to learn from Kota Kinabalu City administrators on their secrets in making the city a successful tourist destination.

“We want to learn from Kota Kinabalu on its success and gain from its expertise in tourism marketing and infrastructure development,” said Sammels.

Rokingham is about 47km southwest of Perth.

Rockingham and Kota Kinabalu were geographically similar with beaches and natural assets, he said, but the 87-year-old city remained relatively “new” in development of tourism.

Sammels, who led an eight-member delegation to Sabah where he met Kota Kinabalu Mayor Datuk Illiyas Ibrahim, said he was impressed by approaches taken by City Hall in developing Sabah’s capital into a major tourism hub.

“It is a beautiful city, the weather is good, the hotels are beautiful and there are so many things for tourists to do here. This is exactly how we intend to promote tourism in Rockingham,” he added.

Both Sammels and Iliyas, in their discussions earlier this week, exchanged information on social impact, business development, infrastructure planning, service delivery, health and waste management and re-cycling.

Source: The Star

No comments: