Tourism Takes In $315 Million To GDP
By Asri Razak

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Brunei Tourism Board's new strategy of launching its "Kenali Negara Kitani" (KNK) or "Get to Know Our Country" campaign is certainly well founded and timely.

During a meeting with more than 100 mukim and village heads of the Brunei-Muara district, it was revealed that the Tourism Board earlier this year had engaged the World Tourism Travel Council (WTTC) to provide the Board with a Tourism Satellite Account USA).

This account illustrates the wider scope of the financial contribution that has been generated by the tourism industry to the national and local economy.

Pg Azmanishah Pg Abd Rahman from the Marketing and Promotion Department revealed the findings of the TSA that the projected amount of the direct contribution of Brunei's tourism industry is estimated at 1.8 per cent or $315 million to Brunei's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By comparison he said, Singapore's tourism contribution to its GDP generated 2.6 per cent this year.

Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohamed, Director of the Brunei Tourism Board explained that the campaign is the board's new strategy to create awareness amongst locals of the potential revenue that can be gained from the domestic tourism industry and how people and villages in the country could reap benefits from tourism's positive impact.

The director went on to say that village and mukim heads have now been urged to support the tourism campaign by filling out a form that was handed out to all the heads of Brunei-Muara district yesterday the the district office's headquarters.

Through the forms, heads of the 104 villages and mukims in the district can identify potential tourism products in their areas that can be potentially established and further developed.

The forms will be compiled by the Tourism Board and potential villages will be enrolled as partners of the KNK programme.

The public will then be informed of these participating villages that offer unique tourism products as well as any future activities and events.

Further into the presentation, Pg Azmanishah highlighted that the campaign is aimed to "promote domestic tourism" and pointed out the importance for locals to have a positive thinking and mindset to help and support the tourism industry's growth before embarking on the campaign. With the development of tourism, it can further assist in boosting the local economy of every villages in Brunei, he went on to say.

He also brought up interesting statistics in 2000, where Bruneians spent $20 million in Miri, which he reasoned could have been spent on the local tourism industry instead. The further detailed findings of the recent TSA report of the contributions from the tourism sector to the local economy will be revealed soon, he added.

Brunei Tourism Board's drive of their domestic awareness campaign is targeting members of the public, government officials, students and associations of the tourism industry as an alternative key driver for the nation's economic diversification plans as well as a generator of employment. The three year campaign will also include the `Visit Brunei Year 2008'.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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