‘Island hopping’, ‘river cruise’ activities in Sarawak have great potential – Nancy
KUCHING: Island hopping and river cruise services have the potential to be developed in Sarawak to boost the state’s tourism industry, said the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
According to her, the exploration of the activity in the islands in the state of Bumi Kenyalang can generate the economy of the local population, especially the community that drives tourism activities in the area.
“In Sarawak, the promotion for tourism destinations to the islands is quite lacking but the number of tourists to the islands in this state is quite encouraging.
“So the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) wants to help the economy of the local community by promoting tourism places such as Pulau Satang, Kuching Wetland National Park so that there is a renewal of packages such as ‘island hopping’,” she said.
She said this at a press conference in conjunction with MOTAC’s visit to Talang Satang National Park here, yesterday, with the aim of obtaining input for his ministry to identify the concept of tourism package renewal that needs to be highlighted.
Talang Satang National Park which is overseen by the Sarawak Forest Corporation (SFC), consists of beaches and seas that surround four islands, namely Pulau Talang-Talang Besar and Pulau Talang-Talang Kecil in Sematan as well as Pulau Satang Besar and Pulau Satang Kecil, located not far from Santubong .
Nancy said among the attractions of the area include scuba diving, snorkelling, seeing the nesting sites of bridled terns and black-naped terns (a type of marine bird) and visiting a turtle breeding center.
In the meantime, she said SFC also offers the Sarawak Sea Turtle Volunteer Program (SSTVP) throughout the month of May to September as an initiative to increase ecotourism activities on Talang-Talang Island.
“This National Park consists of coastal, marine and freshwater ecosystems. Animals that can be seen during ‘river cruising’ activities in Kuching Wetland National Park are such as crocodiles, proboscis monkeys, Irrawady dolphins and see fireflies at night .
“However, the animal cannot be seen all the time because it depends on the tides and the weather,” she said.
source – BERNAMA
