| James Kon |
THE Asean Clean Tourist City award plaque was presented by Wardi bin Haji Mohammad Ali, the Deputy Permanent Secretary (Tourism) at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) cum the Secretary of the Brunei Tourism Board to Haji Ali bin Matyassin, the Chairman of the Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB) Municipal Board yesterday morning at the Tugu Peringatan Penukaran Nama Brunei Menjadi Bandar Seri Begawan, Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien.
The plaque is confirmation of Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), the capital of Brunei Darussalam, being awarded the Asean Clean Tourist City Award during the Asean Tourism Forum 2018 held on January 26 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The Clean Tourist City award is awarded to tourist cities within the Asean region where cultural, natural and man-made attractions exist. Cities are gauged on several criteria including environmental management, cleanliness, waste management, awareness building about environmental protection and cleanliness, green spaces, health safety, urban safety and security, as well as tourism infrastructure and facilities.
The Asean Clean Tourist City Standard serves as a performance reward mechanism for Asean member countries to motivate them to improve the quality of tourism in their cities and increase their marketing competitiveness while at the same time also improving the situation of local residents and their livelihood by alleviating poverty.
Commenting on the award in an interview, the deputy permanent secretary said, “This is one achievement that Bandar Seri Begawan has attained. I believe this is a good step forward in making Brunei ready as a destination for tourists.
“Through a whole government approach, we believe that Brunei is a destination suitable for all (areas of tourism) including Islamic tourism as well as (for those looking to explore the) richness of nature and culture of Brunei. We are currently trying to improve our tourism products in terms of quality and also produce useful information for our service providers like tourist guides through a proper syllabus.”
Meanwhile, Haji Ali said, “With the award, the Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Board is looking at boosting its efforts to make sure BSB stays clean through improvements in the management of the environment, cleanliness, comfort and safety as well as security around the capital.”
On the future plans for BSB, he said, “Currently to liven up the capital, we have Bandarku Ceria and we are also planning commercial and recreational projects to further enliven the atmosphere in the capital.”
Besides the Asean Clean Tourist City award, Brunei Darussalam also received several other awards during the Asean Forum 2018 such as the Asean Green Hotel award received by Ulu Ulu Resort and Radisson Hotel, and the Asean MICE Venue award presented to Radisson Hotel, V-Plaza Hotel and The Empire Hotel & Country Club.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the Asean Tourism Awards 2019, Brunei Darussalam as the lead coordinator for the Asean Public Toilet Standard will be conducting blind audits of previously graded public toilets throughout the country.
Toilets which comply with the Asean Public Toilet Standard will be nominated to receive the Asean Toilet Award during the Asean Tourism Awards 2019.