LABUAN, 27 SEPTEMBER 2019 –A total of 11 media representatives from Peninsular Malaysia and 4 media representatives from Sabah have been invited to participate in a media trip organised by Tourism Malaysia to the Federal Territory of Labuan for the celebration of the Borneo Arts Festival 2019which will be held from 27 to 29 September 2019. The festival is an annual event that features competitions and performances covering various art forms that are popular in Borneo such as Mukun, Tarian Kreatif Borneo and Catan Batik.

The trip which is a collaboration between Tourism Malaysia, Labuan Corporation, Malaysia Airlines and MASwings is a part of an initiative to introduce tourism products and servicesavailable in the region in a bid to promote local tourist spots in line with the Visit Malaysia 2020 Campaign (VM2020). The trip also provides a platform for the media and both the government and private sectors to engage in networking to facilitate a positive exchange of ideas to improve the tourism industry in Malaysia.

Aside from attending the Borneo Arts Festival, the media will also be visiting Labuan’s water village homestay known as KampungAir Patau-Patau 2, the historical Peace Park and Labuan Museumas well as the popular beaches of Pancur Hitam, Batu Manikar andLayang-layangan, whose pristine beaches have merited the COBSEA clean beach award from UNESCO in 2008.

The media participants will also visit Labuan Marina and ride a boat to Pulau Rusukan Besar, dubbed as one of the “Untouched Wonderlands” owing to its beautiful and clean beach, where they will have the chance to snorkel and enjoy the uninhabited island up close. The programme also includes a trip to the historical site of Gedung Ubat where it was believed to be utilised by the Japanese army during World War II as an artillery storage area and the Labuan Bird Park which houses the hornbills amongst other Bornean birds.

The programme highlights include Community Based Tourism (CBT) where the participants will be given the exposure to local enterprises by visiting the supplier of anchovies, Salinang MajuEnterprise in Kg. Bebuloh and Pomosuon Piasau Enterprise in Bukit Kuda which produces virgin coconut oil.

Through this programme, Tourism Malaysia hopes that the media will disseminate information on Labuan’s enchanting beauty and share their experiences exploring the island via their respective media platforms with the hopes that it will give travel ideas to future visitors.

To enable more users to seamlessly access the stories on social media, hashtags such as #VM2020, #VisitMalaysia2020, #TourismMalaysia, #MalaysiaTrulyAsia, #CutiCutiMalaysia, #MalaysianHospitality, #MalaysiaAirlines, #BorneoArtsFestival, #MyLabuanStory, #LabuanTourism and #MASwingsmates will be used throughout the programme to gain more traction for the publicity.

ENDS

For more media releases, media info and media features on Malaysia’s tourism industry, kindly visit the Media Centre of Tourism Malaysia’s website at http://www.tourism.gov.my/

MALAYSIA TOURISM PROMOTION BOARD OR TOURISM MALAYSIA is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Malaysia. It focuses on the specific task of promoting Malaysia as a preferred tourism destination. Since its inception, it has emerged as a major player in the international tourism scene. In 2018, Malaysia registered 25.8 million tourist arrivals and RM84.1 billion tourist receipts, placing it among the major tourism destinations of the world.

For press information, contact:

Nor Hidayah Mohd Nor (Ms)
Tourism Officer
Email : norhidayah@tourism.gov.my

Muadz Samat (Mr)
Assistant Director, Corporate Communications Division
Email : muadz@tourism.gov.my
Tel: +603 8891 8755