| Azaraimy HH |
VISITORS to Tutong District will be able to enjoy an exciting cruise along the pristine Tutong River soon.
The Tutong River Cruise, one of the packages under the Destinasi Tutong, an initiative of the District Tourism Promotion and Coordination Body, will be launched for public bookings in August 2017.
Ahead of the launch of the Tutong River Cruise, several travel agencies, including Sinar Tours, PJ Majestic, Royal Brunei Holidays and Sunshine Borneo Tours and Travel, yesterday took a familiarisation trip to the Tutong River to get a taste of what the river cruising can offer for tourists, and look into how it can be packaged.
The serene Tutong River offers visitors and tourists a place of tranquility, an aesthetic getaway to relieve the stress of urban life.
Though close to urban dwelling, the river is still surrounded by unsullied natural vegetation. Fringed with mangrove and swarms and governed by un-disturbed primary forest, it is home to bountiful flora and fauna.
Various bird species still roam around, and it is not impossible that visitors could have close encounters with the deadly crocodiles or witness mesmerising fire flies at night, or take a perfect photo of a hornbill.
Yesterday’s test cruise was led by Wardi bin Haji Mohammad Ali, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Tourism) at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, and joining him was Muhammad Amir bin Haji Umarali, Chief Executive Officer-cum-Chairperson of Tutong District Tourism Promotion and Coordination Body.
In an interview, Awang Wardi explained that the trip aimed to test the attractiveness of the river cruise and familiarise it with the local travel agents who will be offering river cruise as a package to their designated overseas markets.
“It is hoped that the trip will help the travel agents create attractive packages that suit their respective markets. It showed them the potential of Tutong District as a whole as one of the travel destinations ahead of the launching of the Destinasi Tutong Package next month,” he said.
The trip began with a briefing by Muhamad Amir at the Pekan Tutong jetty. The group departed from the jetty and travelled towards Kampong Suran, an area where the Tutong community first settled in, crossed the big Sungai Tutong signboard, Tamu Tutong, Tutong Bridge and Seri Kenangan Beach before arriving at Kampong Penabai, where the group had the opportunity engage in crab catching, using a traditional ‘Bintur’.
Along the way, the group also enjoyed watching the local wildlife found in the vicinity of the river. The trip concluded at Kuala Tutong where the group visited a boat factory.
Supporting this initiative, the Tourism Development Department (TDD) said that it will emphasise on standards and quality of the products and services, including the level of comfort and safety of tourists taking on the river cruise. The familiarisation trip helped the participating travel agents to be better informed and provided them with an opportunity to explore how to better their offerings to various market segments by pro-moting community-based events.
The event also provided a preview of what will be on offer during the nationwide Brunei December Festival this year in which Tutong District is one of the venues.
The Brunei Tourism Board said it will continue to work closely with various government agencies, event management companies, hotels and restaurants, travel agents, airline companies, local companies and foreign embassies in Brunei Darussalam to make the country one of the preferred holiday destinations. By facilitating more leisure and recreational options such as these, the board hoped to develop the tourism industry by increasing the number of international visitors.
James Park, locally known as Abang James, is the President of Sinar Tour, a subsidiary of Korea-based Shinning Tour. He expressed his confidence over the river cruise as a travel product.
“Before the cruise, I didn’t expect much from it, but after experiencing a couple of hours here, I felt it’s wonderful.”
He said nature-based cruise like this has a big potential in markets such as Korea, because according to him, Koreans look for a unique experience when deciding to travel to Brunei, and this cruise can surely provide it.
James said the next step will be to bring his travel team to Tutong for further studies, adding that his immediate plan is to come up with sunset packages. For Koreans the chance to experience the atmosphere where the river connects the ocean is worth enjoying, he added.
According to him, Brunei has one of the best sunsets on the planet, making it a good value proposition for travellers, and experiencing it at the site where the river connects the ocean will be wonderful.
Meanwhile, Peter Chieng, Managing Director of Majestic Tour, also expressed his enthusiasm over the river cruise experience. Majestic Tour mainly markets its travel products to the Chinese market. The local company handles around 15,000 tourists a year and most of them are from eastern and southern China.
Peter said a lot has improved since his last visit to the river and now he is looking at the place as a potential travel product. “Most of the tours by the company were in Bandar Seri Begawan area and now we will look into Tutong and Belait.”
He pointed out that river cruise in Tutong has big scope, with its pristine condition and the potential of observing natural phenomenon such as the fireflies.
“Nature tour is very effective for the Chinese market because it is becoming very hard to come by in China, and the Chinese are willing to travel far to see it. Brunei is also a short distance from China. Its clean air and green forests have a big appeal on Chinese tourists. The tourists love the local food, cooked by local families.”
According to him, this is something that is not easy to come by in other countries because of the commercialisation of the industry in a big way.
“Chinese tourists are trying to get away from something that is a commodity, and the cruise is something different, it is personal in nature. Thus we are reaching out to a very different market, and I believe that once we package it properly, it will be a very popular product,” Peter said.
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