Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Brunei domestic tourism campaign ends on a high note


Brunei Tourism's year-long Kenali Negara Kitani campaign, which has helped to raise awareness about Brunei's tourist attractions and vacation activities within the country, has concluded its first year of promotional activities on a positive note.

Brunei Tourism displayed its visually striking doughnut-shaped, red-coloured Kenali Negara Kitani (KNK) booth as one of the exhibitors participating in the Brunei International Trade and Consumer Expo (BITC) held at the Mall in Gadong for five consecutive days from the November 28 to December 2, 2007.

Brunei Tourism officers, along with nine private sector KNK Partners, which consisted of Abdul Razak Hotel Properties, Holiday Lodge, Orchid Garden Hotel, Sheraton Utama Hotel, The Empire Hotel and Country Club, Freme Travel Services, MonaFlora Fauna Tours and Century Travel were present at the KNK booth to promote tourism within the country. Hotels and travel agents capitalised on the school holiday season by selling tours and room packages at specially discounted rates. Tours for the Brunei Night Safari were sold for as low as $10 per person and Temburong tours from $88.

The Kenali Negara Kitani campaign aims at getting local residents of Brunei to experience the tourism products which are readily available for purchase from local hotels and tour operators. Prior to the KNK Campaign, many local residents knew little about Brunei's hidden gems and unexpected treasures which make Brunei a popular destination among tourists. Now a year on, as a result of publicity generated through the help of the local media, roadshows targeting at government departments and educational institutions, and through participation in various consumer exhibitions such as Abacus Travel Fair, Kg Sungai Matan Carnival, Menjejak Kampong Tutong, excitement about places of interest in Brunei, discovering one's own country and better understanding the tourism industry has vastly increased across the local and expatriate population of Brunei.

During the BITC Expo, the KNK Campaign received an overwhelming response from the public. Over $12,000 worth of domestic tourism packages and products were sold during the five-day event. Some of the tour packages were bought and immediately used the very weekend following the Expo! Most of the consumers that came to the KNK Booth commented on how amazing the promotions on offer were and admittedly said that they had never been to some of the tourism attractions that are available in Brunei. The success of the BITC Expo was followed with other successful KNK initiatives that saw sales of packages over $7,000.00.

Brunei Tourism would like to encourage more tourism providers with interesting products to become KNK partners and help encourage domestic tourism. Through Brunei Tourism's active efforts in promoting domestic tourism through the three-year long KNK Campaign, it is hoped that locals will be able to enjoy the tourism products and packages on offer and become great ambassadors for the destination in a bid to attract more tourists to the country.

Brunei Tourism is the Tourism Development Department in Brunei's Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, in charge of the international promotion and marketing of Brunei as a tourism destination of choice, acting as secretariat and executor of Brunei Tourism Board's mandate. Interested parties may contact Jeffrey Sunnylai at telephone number 238 28 22.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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