Monday, September 06, 2010

Info on Sarawak Homestay available online

KUCHING: Information about Sarawak Homestay in Sarawak is now available with ‘a click of the button’.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Dato Dr James Dawos Mamit said everybody can now easily get access to whatever information needed on the sector.

All they need to do is to browse through the website www.go2homestay.com.

Dawos said that his ministry has initiated the Homestay e-marketing campaign since November 2009.

Sarawak Homestay campaign which was launched by the minister yesterday was the sixth on its list after Pahang, Selangor, Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan.

Present at the launching held at Abas Homestay in Kampung Panglima Seman Lama, Petra Jaya were Batang Sadong MP Nancy Shukri, chairman of Homestay Association Mahmud Sabli, parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Tourism Mohd Daud Mohd Ariff, director of Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia, Sarawak Esther Douglas Udam and director of Tourism Malaysia Ahmad Johanif Mohd Ali.

He said this campaign is to increase the awareness of the public on Homestay products and to further promote Malaysia Homestay packages throughout the country by using new media which include short messaging services (SMS), multimedia messaging services (MMS), online portal, radio advertisements and prints.

He added that the campaign will feature homestay activities in Sarawak and through cooperation with tour operators, several tour packages will be offered to three segments of the market namely the Adventure Segment, the Family Tourist and the Student Tour Group.

He hoped that by carrying out the campaign, the state would expect to see more tourists experiencing ‘homestay’ environment as part of their adventure in Sarawak.

According to Dawos, since the launch of the www.go2homestay.com website in December 2009, the number of visitors has doubled.

He cited that after the first campaign which started with Pahang Homestay, the state recorded an increase in the number of visitors by 450 per cent and in the Johor campaign there was 819 per cent increase in visitors’ arrival for the same period last year.

Dawos also revealed that his ministry had introduced video call on handphone to the Homestay Operator on April 18 so that they can get connected by just pressing *3307.

He added that the video call can assist them in promoting and providing more information as to what they have to offer at their homestay and this will give visitors the idea as to what they are going to experience.

He said that the Sarawak Homestay is based on the concept of our state.

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