Visit Sarawak Year
After a long wait, a year-long Visit Sarawak Year 2013 would be launched on Sept 16, 2013, in Kuching to coincide with the state’s 50th Merdeka Anniversary celebration of Sarawak and Sabah joining Malaya to form Malaysia.
According to the state Tourism Minister, VSY2013 will be a big and significant year for the ministry, and one that will benefit the tourism industry in many ways.
Other notable mentions would be appearing in movies or documentaries from famous television stations like BBC or National Geographic.
World renown superstars have also made their presence in Sarawak with stars like Jessica Alba, Nick Nolte, Michelle Yeoh and Anthony Bourdain visiting this state in Borneo.
Visit Sarawak Year
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| Ba’kelalan Highlands |
For the year 2012, Sarawak recorded 2,944,821 visitor arrivals from January to September which was an increase of 8.1% compared to the same period last year.
Among the visitors, 1,918,497 (+14.3%) are international visitors and 1,026,324 (-1.9%) are from Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah. There are notable increases in arrivals from Singapore, China, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Culture, Adventure, and Nature (CAN) continue to be the main tourist attraction to Sarawak. Visitors to National Parks, Wildlife Centre, and Nature Reserves indicated a positive growth.
As of June 2012, the National Parks recorded 206,186 visitors of which 26% are foreigners. The latest tourism figures for Sarawak are yet to be published.
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| Semenggoh Wildlife Centre |
The Ministry of Tourism successfully coordinated 54 tourism-related events held in all divisions throughout the State in collaboration with the respective Residents and private event organizers during the year.
The Sarawak Tourism Board continues to print promotional collateral in line with the re-imaging of “Where Adventure Lives” these collaterals are distributed worldwide through the various consumer and trade exhibitions, Tourism Malaysia’s Offices and Malaysia Airlines offices worldwide.
The collateral is also being translated in Korean, Japanese and Mandarin for each individual country too.
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| Homestay is Sarawak |
For homestays in Sarawak, a total of 28 villages comprising of 418 operators throughout the State have been registered under the homestay program which will be highlighted to the tourist for Visit Sarawak Year 2013.
You can also get more information on this from the visitor center in Kuching or from the main websites of the tourism boards.
Sarawak Convention Bureau
Sarawak Convention Bureau, which has completed its re-branding of Sarawak as a destination “Where Business and Adventure Meet” has identified a number of proactive objectives for 2013.
It will place greater emphasis on trading partnerships and representation to achieve its goals. The convention center which is located in the Kuching district will also see many international events happening this and next year.
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| Brooke Dockyard along the Sarawak River |
The world-renown Rainforest World Music Festival has been going on in Sarawak for the last 16 years and it is also noted in one of the top music magazines in the world as one of the 25 Music Festivals in the World to Visit.
This takes place yearly at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Santubong while the world acclaimed Borneo Jazz Festival takes place yearly in the city of Miri.
Another new event that made its inaugural presence this year was the Borneo World Music Expo seeing musicians, programmers and buyers get together in Kuching for this two-day event.
Conclusion
A lot of activities and events have been planned ahead for the year while the state will also be hosting a number of local and international events like the Asean Tourism Forum 2014 or ATF 2014, Borneo Bead Convention 2013 and a number of other notable events.
As for the official launching for this event, nothing has been confirmed as of today (15th Aug) and once we get more information, we will share it here for those interested in attending or even planning a trip during the Visit Sarawak Year 2013.
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