Tycoon to build 400-room hotel in the heart of Miri

Thursday April 22, 2010

By STEPHEN THEN
stephenthen@thestar.com.my

MIRI will soon have a five-star hotel in the heart of the city, boosting its image as the commercial and tourism gateway of northern Sarawak.

Construction of the RM400mil Four Points by Sheraton Miri will start before the end of this year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2011, said Sarawak tycoon Tan Sri Ting Pek Khiing, who is the project developer.

The 400-room hotel, to be equipped with a huge convention hall, will be located next to the slope of Canada Hill, a stone's throw away from the old city centre.

Construction of the hotel, the biggest in northern Sarawak, was supposed to take place last June, but was delayed due to technical reasons.

Ting assured the people of Miri that the hotel would be a reality soon and boost the image of the city and state.

Speaking to newsmen after briefing Miri mayor Lawrence Lai about the project, Ting said he had spoken with friends and business counterparts abroad, including in Singapore, about tourism developments in Miri and northern Sarawak.

“We can do a lot more to promote Miri and northern Sarawak. We need to provide more tourism facilities and attractions in the city centre to woo more people to stay.

“I hope to bring in more Singaporeans,'' he added.

Ting, who has developed hotels and resorts in Langkawi and Sabah, expressed optimism that a high-class hotel and convention centre would boost tourism in Miri and the northern region.

He hoped the city would get more direct international flights from neighbouring countries such as Singapore.

Ting called on Air Asia to reactivate its daily Miri-Singapore-Miri flight as soon as possible, adding that tourism development would not pick unless there was a direct flow of international tourists from overseas destinations.

Air Asia cancelled its daily Miri-Singapore-Miri direct flight last month citing low passenger load.

In an immediate response, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan, who is also Tourism and Heritage Minister, appealed to Air Asia to reinstate the route, saying the flight had an average 70% load daily.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/4/22/sarawak/6103544&sec=sarawak

Asia Upbeat Tourism Industry Will Grow Despite Economic Slowdown

October 22, 2008 16:52 PM

SINGAPORE, Oct 22 (Bernama) -- The tourism industry in Asia may have been affected by the current economic slowdown but the region is expected to rebound and grow in the medium term, said Singapores Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang.

He said the industry's downturn in Asia would be cushioned by the continued increase of intra-regional travel with demand largely driven by travellers from China, India and South Korea.

"Other Asian source markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam would similarly grow and contribute to the rebound of the industry in the region," he said when opening the inaugural ITB Asia Convention at Suntec here today.

ITB Asia is the Asian edition of ITB Berlin, the worlds largest travel trade show in Europe, jointly organised by Messe Berlin and Singapore Tourism Board.

About 850 travel companies from 58 countries including Malaysia, and 5,000 travel representatives are taking part in the three-day show.

Exhibitors from Malaysia include Tourism Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak tourism authorities.

Lim said destinations in Asia such as Macau and Dubai had also boosted their destination appeal to international visitors in recent years and this had resulted in rising interest in Asia as a travel destination.

He said the current turmoil in the global financial markets, combined with higher air travel costs and rising fuel prices had impacted consumer sentiment and discretionary spending in many tourism destinations around the world including Singapore.

He urged the local and international tourism players to work together, forge new partnerships, invest in the development and training of their workers, as well as commit to capability building in Asian markets.

According to the UN World Tourism Organisation, Asia would continue to be a well sought after destination with close to 400 million total visitor arrivals to the East Asia and Pacific region by 2020.

The Pacific Asia Travel Association had forecast that the Asia-Pacific region would see growth of seven to eight percent in international arrivals for 2008 to 2010 with the Asian region attracting 460 million visitors by 2010, up from some 350 million visitors in 2006.

Source: BERNAMA

AirAsia To Launch Kuching-Singapore Direct Flight On Nov 1

October 08, 2008 18:24 PM

KUCHING, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- AirAsia, which has secured rights to fly from Kuching direct to Singapore, will launch its first flight on the Kuching-Singapore sector on Nov 1 as part of the efforts to enhance air connectivity to Sarawak.

Its group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said on Wednesday the low-cost carrier, which obtained the approval only yesterday, would open for sale 5,000 free seats beginning midnight today until Oct 19 this year, excluding surcharge and airport tax, on the new route.

"We fought for six years (for the further liberalisation of aviation industry, especially between Malaysia and Singapore) and have a very aggressive marketing campaign in Singapore," he told a media briefing here, which was also attended by Sarawak Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Michael Manyin.

Fernandes said AirAsia would initially have one flight daily but would expand the frequencies in future once its proposed low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) here was established.

It was also looking at the direct flight connectivity between Kota Kinabalu and Sibu, following numerous requests from the state's tourism industry and people to service that sector as well as reinstate the daily Kuching-Macau route within three months after the flight was scheduled to be suspended on Oct 26, he said.

Fernandes said when the airlines started its operations in Sarawak, it was committed to developing both the state's tourism and business industry by opening up new air links with other regional destinations but the lack of support from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd in granting certain concessions had caused it to review and rationalise some of its routes from here recently.

He said the Kuching-Bali direct flight was being stopped because the high charges and bureaucratic management had hampered its efforts to changing market conditions, especially when the airlines industry was experiencing a tough period due to the global fuel hike.

AirAsia, which flies a total of 182 flights weekly into and within Sarawak, has carried more than 3.6 million passengers in the state so far, with its market share of the Kuala Lumpur-Kuching sector growing to 68 percent at present from 33 percent in 2003.

Fernandes said almost one million passengers were recorded in the Sarawak sector so far this year, generating about RM718 million in revenue.

He projected that some five million passengers would have flown AirAsia into and out of the state by 2013.

Source: BERNAMA

AirAsia To Operate New Routes Between Singapore And Cities In Sabah, Sarawak

October 04, 2008 19:04 PM

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Low-cost carrier AirAsia has been given the green light to operate new routes between Singapore and three cities in Sabah and Sarawak.

Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat said those cities are Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Miri.

"Detailed negotiations between my ministry and the Singapore authorities will be finalised this month and we hope AirAsia can operate those routes as soon as possible. Definitely this year," he told reporters after attending the Sabah MCA convention here.

Ong also said that the negotiations would involve increasing AirAsias frequency between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore by December.

Currently, AirAsia is operating the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route twice daily.

Meanwhile, Ong quashed misconceptions that Malaysia was not practising the open sky policy.

"People seem to have a misconception on the open sky policy when it is actually in place," he said.

"We have reached agreements with other countries to practise this policy in Sabah and Sarawak as well as at our secondary airports," he added.

Source: BERNAMA

Minister To Meet AirAsia CEO On Reinstatement Of Flights

October 04, 2008 20:58 PM

KUCHING, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Sarawak's Tourism Minister, Datuk Michael Manyin, will meet AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer, Datuk Tony Fernandes, to discuss the reinstatement of the Kuching-Bali and Kuching-Macau direct flights.

Manyin, who expected tough talks with Fernandez on Wednesday, said AirAsia decided to suspend the routes due to low passenger load.

"They have asked us to give an assurance that the passenger loads on the flights be between 60 and 70 percent if we want the routes to be reinstated.

"How can we give the assurance when we were given only two months to market the Kuching-Bali route, which was introduced in May this year and suspended in August," he told reporters at the Hari Raya Open House of state Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Seri Awang Tengah Awang Ali Hassan here today.

The Kuching-Macau flights will be suspended from Oct 26.

Manyin proposed that AirAsia stop flying directly back to Kuching and instead have one stop-over on the return flight for the two routes.

He said AirAsia could also use smaller aircraft for the return flights.

"The outbound flights do not pose problems as there are passengers. However, the return flights from the two routes have low passenger loads," he said.

Meanwhile, Manyin said the target of four million tourist arrivals was unlikely to be achieved this year due to the current global economic turmoil.

Source: BERNAMA

Adopt A Sea Turtle At Sarawak's Turtle Island

October 02, 2008 14:02 PM

KUCHING, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- "Adopt A Sea Turtle" is a wildlife conservation programme in Sarawak that gives locals and foreigners a chance to experience turtle conservation activities at the turtle island of Pulau Talang-Talang Besar near here.

According to the latest issue of "Perkasa", the Sarawak Timber Industry Corporation's bi-monthly newsletter, participants will be able take part in conservation activities including tagging and measuring the turtles, patrolling the beach, transferring the eggs to hatchery, releasing the hatchlings, recording data as well as assisting in other research and educational activities.

"As one of the state's extensive efforts in wildlife protection, the turtle adoption programme is also a way of incorporating and involving locals and foreigners to value and celebrate what Sarawak has done thus far in sea turtle conservation," it said.

Launched by the then State Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh on April 30 this year, the four-day three-night programme is being conducted from May to September yearly at the island, which is part of the Talang-Satang National Park.

So far, eight species have been found at the national park, where 99 percent of nesting sea turtles recorded in Sarawak are of the Green Turtle species.

Following the listing of all sea turtles under the totally-protected species list in the Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 1993 (Amended 2003), a proposal was made to the state government to gazette sea grass beds and coral reefs at the Kuala Lawas area, which had been identified as feeding ground for green and hawksbill turtle as totally protected area.

Perkasa said other conservation efforts included the Reef Ball project, which was found to be successful in reducing the number of sea turtle mortality rate and ensuring its nesting areas are further protected besides benefiting the local fishermen by contributing significant increase in their catches.

However another 5,000 reef balls are still needed to protect the sea turtles' critical habitat, their swimming areas, nesting beaches and feeding ground and migration pathway along the 1,000-kilometre coastline of Sarawak.

"This is where other conservation orientated organisations and the private sector can play their role and show support," it said.

Legislations pertaining to sea turtles in Sarawak are also in place and have been regularly revised to suit the current needs in managing sea turtle reseach and conservation.

Source: BERNAMA

AirAsia offering more flights out of KK and Kuching

Friday January 19, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR: Budget airline AirAsia will fly to Macau daily from Kota Kinabalu next month.

At the same time, it will also fly four times weekly from the Sabah capital and Kuching to Penang.

AirAsia executive vice-president (commercial) Kathleen Tan said the flights to Macau from Feb 6 were an expansion of the Kota Kinabalu hub’s international connectivity and a response to market demands.

“Our low fares are expected to attract traffic from not just Macau but also from southern China,” she said, adding that visitors from Sabah and Sarawak could now take direct flights to Macau.

“We added our third frequency to Macau early last month from our Kuala Lumpur hub due to exceptionally-high demand for the route.

“We are confident that our new flights from Kota Kinabalu will be another winner,” she said.

The flights to Penang will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with the first flights from both Kota Kinabalu and Kuching on Feb 7.

Tan said: “The rapid expansion of flights connecting Sabah and Sarawak to the peninsula will help boost tourism and stimulate economic growth.

“The current market has increased demand for the two hubs to connect to Penang,” she said.

The introductory fares for the Kuching-Penang flight will start from RM19.99 while the Kota Kinabalu-Penang flight will cost at least RM29.99. Tickets from Kota Kinabalu to Macau will start from RM49.99.

Source: The Star

Cargo aircraft crash-lands, airport runway forced to close for six hours

Sunday January 14, 2007

KUCHING: A cargo aircraft from Kuala Lumpur crash-landed at Kuching International Airport here early yesterday, causing the airport runway to be closed for six hours.

The Boeing 737-200 aircraft belonging to Gading Sari Aviation Services Sdn Bhd was trying to land at 5.52am when it skidded and spun 180 degrees before coming to rest on a grassy area off the runway.

Its wheels and right engine came off during the crash-landing and the fuselage was badly damaged. Several taxiway and runway lights were also destroyed.

The four crew members on board the plane were unharmed in the incident.

The aircraft was operating as a mail courier for Pos Malaysia Bhd and had left Subang airport at 4am.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah said the plane skidded to a stop about 1,500m from the start of the runway.

“It was about 80m from the centre of the taxiway and 87.5m from the centre of the runway. Its position was affecting incoming and outgoing flights, so airport authorities had to close the runway to allow the aircraft to be towed away and debris to be cleared,” he told reporters at the airport.

The closure delayed 16 Malaysia Airlines and 14 AirAsia flights, affecting some 2,200 passengers.

“We apologise to all passengers,” Uggah said, adding that the airport was re-opened at noon.
According to Uggah, debris including engine parts, tyres and broken pieces of lights had been strewn across the runway.

“Luckily, the runway surface was not damaged.”

The Department of Civil Aviation will investigate the cause of the incident.

In Petaling Jaya, Pos Malaysia chief operating officer Mohd Zarif Hashim said Pos Malaysia uses one aircraft to send mail from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah and Sarawak on Monday and two from Tuesday to Saturday.

Pos Malaysia Bhd and Gading Sari Aviation Services are now rushing to get approval from the authorities which would allow an aircraft to be brought in from Indonesia as a stop-gap measure.

“There will be minimal disruptions in mail services to Sabah and Sarawak,” said Mohd Zarif.
He said if efforts to get the replacement plane fail, Pos Malaysia would give priority to its Poslaju service on its single flight.

Source: The Star - Nation

FAX considering regional flights from Miri

Friday January 12, 2007

MIRI: Malaysia's third national airline Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) is mulling over plans to operate regional flights from Miri to neighbouring countries.

In the pipeline are flights from Miri to cities and towns in Kalimantan to "test" the Indonesian market, said FAX CEO Raja Mohd Azmi Razali.

FAX, recently licensed by the Government to operate international long-haul flights using the Air Asia X brand, has its headquarters in this oil capital of Sarawak.

Raja Azmi said Friday FAX wanted Miri as the base for regional operations to countries in the east Asean zone if it was commercially-viable.

"We will operate our international flights from Kuala Lumpur first before we start similar overseas long-haul flights from Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

"These two cities in Sarawak and Sabah would serve as the bases for our international operations from east Malaysia, while Miri may be used as the base for regional flights.

"We may start with flights from Kuching and Kinabalu to cities in China, and then from Miri to Kalimantan. If the response is good, we will fly to more countries from east Malaysia," he said.

Raja Azmi was asked to comment on the feasibility of using these three cities to operate international direct flights now that Air Asia X had been given the greenlight to go international from July.

"Our foremost concern now is to establish the links between Kuala Lumpur and the international destinations we want to fly to.

"Once we have established this, then we can think of operating similar flights to overseas from east Malaysia," he explained.

FAX operates the rural air service in east Malaysia, serving some 700,000 people, many of whom are from remote places.

Source: The Star

External Links:
Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) - http://www.flyasianxpress.com

Perak Prepares More Than 60 Events For Visit Malaysia Year 2007

December 30, 2006 11:17 AM

IPOH, Dec 29 (Bernama) -- Perak has prepared more than 60 events for the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 (VMY 2007) to woo some three million tourists into the state next year.

Perak Agriculture, Tourism and Culture Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Radzi Manan said among the events are Ipoh International Run, Perak International Dances Championship, International Orchid Festival, Pulau Sembilan Fishing Safari and Perak Agrofest.

"We will also organise Malaysia Skydive Perak next year after its maiden show this year garnered encouraging response and praise from the participants," he told a press conference here Saturday.

He said Perak's VMY 2007 will be officially launched by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali this Jan 7 at Lumut Square.

"But the VMY 2007 celebrations will start on Jan 1 with Temenggor Assemblyman Datuk Hasbullah Osman welcoming tourists at entry points in Pengkalan Hulu, while Pangkor Assemblyman Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir at Lumut jetty," he said.

In KUCHING, a giant-size book on tourist attractions in the state, entitled "Pictorial of Sarawak", has been flown to Dubai to be exhibited at the Dubai Shopping Festival.

The book's author, Ang Beng Ling, said the three-metre long and 2.2-metre wide wonder was sent via a MASkargo delivery service and is expected to arrive in Dubai Sunday.

The book contains about 200 tourism-related pictures in Sarawak and will be exhibited at several parts of the country by a Dubai-based non-governmental organisation.

"It will be exhibited for the first time at the Dubai Shopping Festival to promote Malaysia and Sarawak. I do not intend to bring it back home as it will bring more benefits to leave it outside the country," Ang told reporters at the MASkargo office, here Saturday.

Last Sept 18 September, the book was announced by the Malaysia Book of Records as the largest book in the country.

In KUALA LUMPUR, Deputy Home Affairs Datuk Tan Chai Ho reminded taxi drivers to maintain the country's good image when dealing with tourists during the VMY 2007.

He said they must be at their best appearance and behaviour while interacting with these visitors.

"Taxi fares must be according to the meters and should not be arbitrarily set by them," he told reporters here after launching a taxi drivers' expedition to Teluk Batik, organised by the Kuala Lumpur Taxi Drivers' Welfare Association Saturday.

The expedition is to promote Teluk Batik to tourists.

Tan suggested taxi drivers to attend tourism courses conducted by Tourism Malaysia to improve their communication skills.

He also praised the association's effort for organising the expedition which would expand the taxi drivers' knowledge of Malaysia's tourist destinations apart from promoting them.

Source: BERNAMA

Keywords: Malaysia, Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Tourism, Visit Malaysia Year 2007, VMY 2007, VMY'07, VMY2007

External Links:
Tourism Malaysia - http://www.tourismmalaysia.gov.my
Virtual Malaysia - http://www.virtualmalaysia.com