Sabah's homestay program is really taking off, registering good receipts in recent years

One type of accommodation that is often overlooked by locals is homestay programs. These homestays offer visitors a chance to live like locals and experience the lifestyle. These homestays are often in rural areas, and are targeted at foreigners who wish to experience village life. But according to statistics, there are also Malaysians who have tried these homestays as well. According to a Bernama article, the Sabah Homestay Association is targeting over RM3.7 million in receipts this year, a 50 percent increase from the previous year’s target of RM 2.5 million. Will homestay accommodation be the next hot trend in Malaysia?

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The Sabah Homestay Programme is expected to remain bullish this year, where RM3.7 million in receipts are projected from the 16 programmes involving 209 houses in the state.

Sabah Homestay Association president, Jeffry Yahya, said this year it expected the receipts to increase by at least 50 per cent from last year’s target of RM2.5 million.

“Last year, we were ranked number one in Malaysia. To date, we have seen a 35 per cent increase compared with the first quarter of last year. So we are off to a good start.

“The increase is seen in the number of participating tourists and receipts recorded,” he told reporters after the launch of ’365 Days Celebration with Homestay Sabah’ brochure here Tuesday.

He said only one or two homestay operators here were affected by the Japanese earthquake as the majority of them catered to European market.

On the claims by Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen of the existence of illegal homestay operators, Jeffry said this happened a few years back because of there was no official Homestay logo.

He said the association has the logo now and starting this year, it would be easier for tourists to identify between a genuine and illegal operator.

Earlier, Sabah Tourism Board chairman, Datuk Seri Dr Tengku Zainal Adlin, said last year, 17,558 tourists, both local and foreign, had a taste of the ‘kampung’ lifestyle through the homestay programmes.

“The programes generated RM2.46 million in receipts, an increase of 14 per cent from RM2.13 million recorded in 2009,” said Zainal, who is also a member of Tourism Malaysia board of directors.

Meanwhile, Tourism Ministry’s Sabah office director, Nely Nasir, said the ministry has identified 25 illegal homestay operators during their checks at Kundasang, Kota Belud and Kudat in February.

Source: Bernama

Homestay packages allow visitors to experience how life actually goes on in Malaysia

“Perhaps the ministry can require all homestay programmes to register with it and rebrand them to enable the tourists to differentiate between the real and the fake.

“Right now, there are no specific laws for the government to act against the fake homestay operators, but the matter has to be tackled for the tourism industry to grow,” she told reporters after a meeting with officers and staff of the ministry in Kelantan and Tourism Malaysia Kelantan, here.

Ng said operators of fake homestay programmes did not live in, contrary to the objective of the programmes, and did not fulfil the criteria as promoted in the package.

“Tourists must understand that in a homestay programme, the owner of the house lives in and takes the tourists through the package of activities,” she said, adding that tourists had complained of having been cheated.

Ng said eight villages in Kelantan offered homestay programmes operated by 161 home owners who made available 194 rooms.

Last year, she said, 1,193 foreign tourists and 1,148 domestic tourists participated in the homestay programmes, bringing in returns of RM1.17 million.

Ng said Kelantan had the potential to draw more tourists, particularly from Singapore, and the ministry had launched a homestay programme incorporating a train journey in October last year to boost the potential.

“Tourist information centres were visited by 2,149 tourists from Japan, China, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom, indicating an interest in the tourism products of Kelantan,” she said.

Source: Bernama

It said in the 2010/2011 Economic Report released today that while continuing to promote existing tourism products such as eco-tourism, edu-tourism and health tourism as well as the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) and homestay programmes, the promotion of innovative tourism products would be accelerated.

These include Malaysia’s parks and gardens, culinary delights, arts tourism, women’s golf and flower trails.

The report said that in July this year, the government had launched the inaugural 1Malaysia Contemporary Art Tourism, a three-month event annually, aimed at attracting high yield tourists.

The initiative not only showcases the works of local artists, but will establish Malaysia as a hub for art in the region.

As part of innovative efforts to promote the homestay programmes, the government launched the Homestay e-Marketing Promotion as well as homestay promotion through smartphone applications.

Meanwhile, the government’s efforts in promoting eco-tourism programmes such as the Indigenous Community Tourism Packages will continue to benefit the Orang Asli community.

To ensure greater participation in eco-tourism activities, courses will be provided to train Orang Asli as boat operators or forest guides.

In the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) industry, efforts were intensified to gain a larger share of the global market, it said.

These initiatives would contribute towards achieving the target of 24 million tourist arrivals and receipts of RM59.2 billion for this year, it added.

Source: Bernama

The programme which is undertaken by KTMB Intercity Service with the cooperation of the Tourism Ministry will focus on homestay in areas served by the railway line.

They include historical areas and those with certain attractions like Gemas and Tampin in Negeri Sembilan.

Marketing manager for the Strategic Business Unit of KTMB’s Intercity Service, Mohd Noordin Kimi, said the rail tourism programme was expected to be introduced this July in an effort to diversify the services of KTMB, which would be celebrating its 125th anniversary Tuesday.

He said although since five years ago, KTMB had created tourism packages on its own, they were not expansive, but this time with the involvement of the Tourism Ministry, there would be more focus.

“We will now focus on promoting tourism in areas where the railway line passes through, with the programme having 10 themes including relaxation, education, recreation, sports, health and religion,” he said.

“The relaxation theme, for instance, will include a visit to Langkawi Island, shopping in Padang Besar, and a visit to Hat Yai and Kelantan.

“In the education-themed package, primary school pupils from the urban areas will be able to spend their holidays in a rural setting.”.

Mohd Noordin said the Tourism Ministry would draw up the travel packages, decorate the coaches involved, put up banners and issue brochures and pamphlets on the programme, besides monitoring the programme.

“A committee comprising representatives from the ministry, KTMB, homestay operators associations and other relevant parties will be formed to ensure smooth running of the rail tourism programme and good public response to it.”

He said KTMB had officially appointed six travel agents to manage the programme that was targeted to attract 18,000 local and foreign tourists yearly.

Source: Bernama

Exchanging views on how to maximise tourism potential, Wee said countries that aim to tap into tourism to enhance their economies should leverage on their strengths and be creative in attracting visitors.

Citing Malaysia as example, Wee said, even the monsoon season itself had been turned into a tourism product despite the fact that it is regarded as a low period for tourism and hindered tourism potential.

Referring to the “Monsoon Cup” regatta off the coast of Terengganu, Wee said the monsoon period with its strong winds and rain had proven to be an advantage with proper planning.

“We have a competition. We invite people…sailors to come and compete with one another. Instead of seeing the monsoon season as a disadvantage, it is now a feature of our tourism and has put the country on the world map,” he said during a panel discussion at the 6th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), here Thursday.

The discussion entitted “Tapping Tourism Potential:Putting Resources to Work”, was moderated by Chairman, Malaysia Airlines and Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad, Tan Sri Mohd Munir Abdul Majid.

Wee said capitalising on the country’s best tourism feature – diverse ethnic groups – Malaysia had leveraged on what it had in the country and created the ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ campaign, which has grown into a brand of its own.

Apart from that, Wee said, to further enhance the tourism industry, Malaysia had made significant moves to package existing products so as to make them more appealing to the niche markets.

This included medical tourism, educational tourism, home-stay products, eco-tourism, the “Malaysia My Second Home” programme and shopping festivals which targeted different markets around the world.

Wee said the launch of the Visit Malaysia Year in 2007 went a long way in re-engineering all stakeholders’ perspective on tourism and helped align them with the objectives of the government’s tourism initiatives.

“These strategies have seen our tourism arrivals increase four-fold in ten years; from 5.5 million tourist arrivals in 1998 to 22 million in 2008,” he said.

Maldives Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dr Ahmed Ali Awad, who was also on the panel, spoke on the evolution of his country’s tourism industry from rustic home-stay products to the sophisticated high-end resorts of Thursday.

Admitting that with lack of resources and connectivity back in the 1960s, Dr Ahmed Ali said, the island country was not even on the main tourism routes.

“Some pioneers brought European tourists on home-stay programmes to our idyllic islands by simple boats. They carried stories of their stay here by word-of-mouth, and that’s how our tourism industry was born,” he revealed.

Recognising the country’s tourism potential, the government ensured that it made infrastructure development a priority, including building an international airport which later put the island on the air routes, he added.

However, he said it was the unique concept of “One Island, One resort” policy which emphasized on environment preservation and ensuring sustainable development that has gave the Maldives tourism industry a boost.

“We abide by the one island, one resort policy, which limits one resort being built per island. And all resort structures may only occupy 20 per cent of the islands’ land area and are not to be built higher than the tallest tree,” he said.

For Executive Council member of the South African Ministry of Economic Development & Tourism, Michael Mabuyakhulu, he said players in the tourism industry had to do business in a different way to fulfil the desires of today’s tourists.

He said to meet their needs of “more output for less input”, industry players must upgrade their services and quality.

Mabuyakhulu said, the time to sell countries individually had passed, thus industry players had to cooperate and collaborate to sell regions as destinations.

He said South Africa had begun to do this in the build up to the FIFA 2010 World Cup finals, which will be held there.

In conclusion, the panel discussion agreed that tourism had the potential to change the face of nations, build cultural bridges and alleviate poverty if the right strategies are applied.

Source: Bernama

Leading the charge at Malaysia’s 17th participation in the ATM from tomorrow until Friday at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre is Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.

According to Azizan Noordin, Tourism Malaysia‘s deputy director-general for planning, the target is to lure 300,000 Arab visitors to Malaysia in 2010, from 284,890 recorded in 2009.

The tourism promotion agency is eyeing 85,000 visitors from Saudi Arabia and 30,000 from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as 115,000 from Iran this year, among others.

The target audience for the West Asian market included families, young adults, members of royal families and high-end market, special interest groups, honeymooners, corporate groups, business travellers and students, he told Bernama ahead of the event.

“One of our objectives in Dubai is to promote Malaysia as a top-of-mind tourist destination as well as strengthen our marketing and promotional activities involving players such as travel agents, airlines and corporate sectors,” Azizan said.

He reckoned that Arab visitors would continue to be attracted by shopping and scenes of urban life in Malaysia.

Family-oriented activities like those available at theme parks such as Genting Highlands, Sunway Lagoon and A’Famosa Resort also generate interest among tourists from this region.

“This is because the Arabs are more likely to go on vacation with their families rather than taking a group tour (involving strangers),” he said.

Azizan said Malaysia’s numerous islands and beaches, including Penang and the resort island of Langkawi, would continue to be high on the list of things to do among Arab travellers.

Malaysia will also be reinforcing its niche products such as ecotourism, homestay programme, wedding and honeymoon packages, health tourism, wellness and spa, yachting, horse-riding and education tourism, at the ATM 2010.

“We’re also giving attention to high-end tourists, enticing them with luxury vacations in places like Langkawi and Pangkor,” Azizan said, adding that golfing and the Malaysia My Second Home programme were also geared towards this market segment.

Five Malaysian states — Sabah, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Kedah — will be touting their tourist attractions during ATM 2010, billed as the Middle East’s premier travel and tourism show.

For 2010, Malaysia has set a target of 24 million tourist arrivals and an estimated revenue of RM54 billion.

From 22.05 million visitor arrivals in 2008, Malaysia welcomed 23.65 million tourists in 2009.

It was one of seven countries to achieve positive growth in tourist arrivals last year when the rest of the world experienced a four per cent decline, no thanks to the global economic crisis and H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Azizan said Tourism Malaysia’s efforts were also geared towards increasing the length of stay and tourist expenditure.

Data indicated that as far as the West Asian market was concerned, Saudi Arabia was among the trendsetters in 2009, its 68,000 visitors to Malaysia having chipped in RM495.7 million to the nation’s coffers.

The Saudis recorded an average length of stay of 10.6 nights and RM6,430.8 in terms of average per capita expenditure.

Dr Ng is leading a 120-member delegation to the ATM 2010 consisting of representatives from 54 hotels, 22 travel and tour operators as well as the five states and Malaysia Airlines.

Her packed itinerary in Dubai includes attending the opening of the travel show and launch of the Malaysia Pavilion.

In between a string of interviews with local and international media outlets, the minister is also expected to hold talks with a number of key regional tourism players, including airline and tourism authority bosses.

A Tourism Malaysia roadshow to Kuwait and Qatar, also headed by Dr Ng, follows the ATM 2010.

Source: Bernama

Several stations on KTMB’s extensive rail network would be upgraded to attract more tourists, especially those from Singapore, to take train rides to various states in Peninsular Malaysia, especially the northeastern state of Kelantan, well-known for its rich cultural traditions.

KTMB’s rail network covers the entire length of the peninsula, extending into downtown Singapore in the south and running along both the east and west coasts of the peninsula right up to the Thai border in the north. It also operates a joint service all the way to Bangkok with the State Railway of Thailand.

“Travelling by train to various states, especially Kelantan, will be a unique experience, which would enable tourists to sample the cultures of the people,”

Dr Ng told reporters after holding a dialogue with local tourism industry players in the Kelantan state capital here Tuesday.

She said Kelantan was endowed with tropical rainforests, waterfalls, a national park, exotic dishes, and arts and culture. “Tourists can also experience the way of life of the people through the homestay programme,” she added.

She said various state and national level activities such as the Food Fiesta, Cahaya Diraja Kelantan Festival in conjunction with the Sultan of Kelantan’s birthday celebration and the Malaysian Tourism Arts Festival would help put Kelantan at the forefront of the country’s tourism promotion this year.

Dr Ng also said that the Kubang Pasu Market here, the oldest of its kind in the state, would be turned into a food mall selling dishes and foodstuffs from various races.

She said Kelantan recorded 67,702 of 23.65 million the country’s tourist arrivals last year up compared with 53,838 of 22 million the previous year. The state now has 3,948 rooms, including homestay and budget hotels, last year compared with 3,549 the previous year, she added.

Source: Brunei fm

The tour operators, media and major airline officials came away impressed with her one-hour “Malaysia Truly Asia” presentation that began with a video showing idyllic scenes and the simplicity of village life away from the hustle and bustle of big cities.

Many of them also agreed to promote in Sweden the Malaysian homestay experience as a niche product.

“I am impressed with the informative presentation. She (Dr Ng) is very hands-on and it shows Malaysia is really serious in attracting Swedish tourists,”

Christina Chuck, general manager of Far East Travel Service, told Bernama.

Her agency would start to market Malaysian homestay packages, specially tailored for Swedes in the 17-35 age group from next year.

“We have been selling Malaysia for the past two years, but mostly for the high-end above 40 age group. But now, we are tapping into the younger market who seek adventure and a different educational and cultural experience,” she said.

Chuck said on average, a Swedish tourist would spend two weeks in Malaysia and RM10,000.

“Swedes are affluent tourists, and they are knowledgeable about the things they want. They are willing to spend to have a cultural experience and quality service,” she added.

Mulu

Chuck, who last visited Malaysia in 2007, believes that Malaysia has the competitive edge over its neighbours as it has, among others, famed virgin rainforests, the Mulu National Park which is a Unesco-declared World Heritage Site, and the world-acclaimed diving haven in Sipadan.

She said awareness on environmental issues among people in the West was also a factor that could draw more Swedish tourists to Malaysia.

Gisle Dueland, marketing manager for Turkish Airlines based here, said the homestay programme could become one of Malaysia’s main attractions.

A savvy traveller himself, Dueland felt that homestays provided real tourism as they offered visitors the real life experience and better understanding of a place.

He said Malaysia had good prospects as a relatively new and unexplored destination for Swedes.

“I think the fact that it is less known is also an advantage, as it still holds the charm and its uniqueness will capture the interest of Swedes to consider Malaysia as a whole new destination, rather than keep going to Thailand or Singapore,”

he added.

Turkish Airlines and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) entered into a code-sharing pact this year to ply the Stockholm-Istanbul-Kuala Lumpur sector.

Dueland was optimistic that with the promotiomal campaigns by Tourism Malaysia and its partners in Sweden, the air passenger load would grow.

Dr Ng said there were 146 villages in Tourism Malaysia’s homestay programme.

“I always believe that whatever we do, tourism must also benefit the rural people economically, without jeopardising the environment and most importantly, the aesthetic value of the kampung lifestyle,” she said.

The minister said she was also in talks with major international airlines to bring in more Swedish tourists to the country after MAS cancelled its direct service from Kuala Lumpur to Stockholm last month.

“We are looking at exploring the two-in-one packages with tour operators and airlines, where we make Malaysia as the second destination of the Swedish tourists via other cities that they visit such as Bangkok, Singapore or Dubai,”

she added.

Source: Bernama

Hulu Perak which borders Thailand, Kedah and Kelantan has three main towns in Gerik, Lenggong and Pengkalan Hulu.

It is dotted with traditional kampungs on the banks of Sungai Perak and other rivers which flow into Temenggor, Chenderoh and Raban lakes.

Hulu Perak is also strategically located on the main land route linking Perak, Kelantan and Thailand.

Lenggong member of parliament Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said the lakes and mountainous areas offer new ecotourism products to domestic and foreign tourists.

He said Hulu Perak is famous for Kampung Beng, a traditional kampung on the banks of Chenderoh lake, used as shooting locations by local and foreign film production companies.

The international film ‘Anna and The King’ which was shot on location in Ipoh and Batu Gajah also had some scenes of the kampung inhabited by 198 families.

Some 9,000 tourists from France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan and United States visited the kampung under the ‘inap desa’ homestay programme last year.

Shamsul said what makes Kampung Beng unique is that the motorboat remains as the mode of transport for people in six kampungs; Batu Ring, Durau, Beng Dalam, Durian Lubuk, Dusun and Sekolah.

“Motorboats are used to travel from one kampung to another. Kampung Beng is the largest floating kampung settlement in Perak,” he said.

Most of the 4,000 hectare kampung settlement is covered by lakes and mountainous areas with thick jungles.

Tourists to Kampung Beng can also visit the cattle and deer grazing areas and terraced herbal padi cultivation by a Taiwanese company.

Shamsul said 59 kampung houses have joined the ‘inap desa’ homestay programme which allows tourists to sample the kampung lifestyle complete with lake tours, fishing and playing with tame deer.

“The activities packaged under the agrotourism concept provide kamung people with additional income.”

He said the grazing areas which have been around for 20 years have succeeded in breeding the deer just like in the wild.

“A mature 16 month-old deer weighing 80kg each is sold at RM800-RM1,150 each. Kampung Beng venison tastes better than those from other areas,” Shamsul said.

Abdullah Mohd Dali, 38, said the kampung has become more popular, thanks to aggressive promotion by the Perak government and tour agencies.

“The winded Kuala Kangsar-Gerik road has also been upgraded. Other than staying in kampung houses, tourists can also stay at resthouses in Lenggong and Gerik and the new resort at Tasik Raban,” he said.

The Tasik Raban Resort costing RM3.8 million was built by the Lenggong District Council two years ago.

The Perak government had approved an allocation of RM3.5 million to expand the resort.

Source: Bernama

This year’s Malaysian Mega Sale Carnival (MMSC) with the theme “Malaysia Your Shopping Oasis” from July 4 to August 31, will have Middle Eastern flavour.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said Tourism Malaysia would be introducing various events based on the Middle-East concept.

A showcase of Middle Eastern music and performances, called the Samrah Festival, would be held at Bukit Bintang every Friday and Saturday from July 10, she told a press conference here Thursday.

Dr Ng

She also said awards would be given to shopping malls and retailers who decorated their premises according to the theme.

“Categories for the Best Window Display Contest include departmental stores, specialty stores and food and beverages outlets while categories for the MMSC 2009 July Shopping Centres award include Central Bussiness District shopping centres and Suburban shopping centres,” she added.

She said Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, would launch MMSC 2009 on July 5 at Pavilion KL in Bukit Bintang.

Forty-four foreign journalists and television crews who were invited to Malaysia under the Mega Familiarisation programme in conjuction with the event would also be there. They were from Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, China, India, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.

Asked about the low occupancy rate for the homestay programme, Ng said the ministry was reviewing it with a view to revitalising the programme.

“Homestay is a rural tourism economy and many foreign tourists prefer to stay at a homestay as they want to experience life in the village,” she said.

Unfortunately, the homestay operators had not really understood the concept, she added.

Source: Bernama