PETALING JAYA: In a bid to boost tourism and further promote the Land of the Hornbills as a brand, the Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) signed an agreement to collaborate with low-cost airline AirAsia and local advertising company Laduni Services.
With the partnership, displays depicting Sarawak’s myriad attractions – culture, adventure, nature, food and festivals – will be brandished on the overhead cabin compartments of five AirAsia aircraft.
Sarawak Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the visuals will provide flight passengers with more information and attractive images of the lively destination which is vibrant, exciting and full of attractions.
“We hope that this promotional initiative will give Sarawak greater brand visibility in the region and target the correct audience among travellers,” siad Abdul Karim during the signing ceremony at the Kuching International Airport today.
He also said that he hopes the images will be able to convey the promotional message and promote the state’s iconic tourist attractions such as the Mulu National Park which is a Unesco World Heritage Site, the state’s lip-smacking Sarawak Laksa, its Tusan beach, the popular Rainforest World Music Festivals, as well as the rare Rafflesia flower.
STB CEO Sharzede Datu Salleh Askor said that the tourism board viewed the private-public sector collaboration as good synergy.
“Sarawak has many hidden gems that are waiting to be discovered and aircrafts are certainly one of the best platforms to boost visibility and capture tourists around Asia and Indo China.”
Sharzede also said that STB is going down strong with promotions in digital media in its aim to attract air travellers who are IT savvy and use Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) for their travels.
The aircraft with the promotional displays belong to AirAsia Malaysia and AirAsia Thailand. The five airplanes will fly across six countries and some 30 destinations around Asia to promote Sarawak for a duration of one year.
This is the latest collaborative effort following STB’s promotional strategy to create hype promote Sarawak within the domestic and international markets. In February this year, it launched AirAsia aircraft livery depicting its ‘Visit Sarawak Campaign’.
