Local agents confident of Sultanate's allure
By Rosli Abidin Yahya

Bandar Seri Begawan - Local travel agencies that participated in the recent Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) Travel Mart 2005 - held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from Sept 27 to 30 - are confident that the Sultanate will continue to attract tourists especially from countries like India, China and the Gulf.

Hj Mohd Tali Hj Abd Rahman of the Tourism Development Division, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) - who led the companies under the auspicious of MIPR - said that the event attracted 375 global buyers representing 339 organisations from 54 countries.

The sellers represented 307 travel organisations from 37 countries including related agencies from Brunei Darussalam - such as Royal Brunei Airlines, Good Miles, Sunshine Borneo Tours & Travel and Empire Hotel & Country Club, he added.

The mart was opened on Sept 27 by Malaysian Tourism Minister Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad, who later toured the booths with his deputy Datuk Zahid Hamidi and other guests.

"There was also an 8.7 per cent increase in buyer delegates, representing 20 per cent more countries than last year's event in Bangkok.

"On the seller side there was strong growth in representation from Australia, India, the Maldives and Malaysia and there were 42 buyer-seller appointments this year, up from 38 last year," he said.

He added that the event included three workshops on Russia, China and India; the three source markets that will drive much of the tourism growth in Asia Pacific for decades to come.

"There were also media briefings and conferences. We were told that the Sultanate will be featured in travel magazines and newspapers," he said.

Hj Mohd Tali was particularly impressed with the strong response from international buyers to the `Meet the Buyers' breakfast, which was an encouraging development. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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