Monday April 9, 2012

Ba’Kelalan Highland cashing in on homestay programme

LAWAS: The cool and serene Ba’Kelalan highland, renowned for its annual apple festival in the world tourism industry, is now eyeing the lucrative homestay programme.

The booming homestay programme in the country has generated positive vibes among the remote Ba’Kelalan residents here who want a piece of the pie in the growing tourism industry in the country. Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit was quoted as saying in Parliament recently that revenue from the homestay programme in the country increased by 26.78% to RM15.7 million last year with tourist participation in the programme having increased by 29.8% to 254,981 people.

Dawos said the homestay industry had contributed toward higher tourist arrivals which saw an increase of 21.6% from 161,561 tourists in 2009 to 196,472 in 2010.

Straight from trees: A tourist from New Zealand picking apples at an orchard in Ba’Kelalan. Applepicking is one of many activities visitors can do while staying at any of the homestays in the highland area. — Bernama

For Sarawak, the homestay craze is beginning to reap positive returns when homestay operators managed to rake in accumulated earnings of RM978,700 last year, an increase of over 25% when compared to the RM780,950 in 2010. Based on the Tourism Ministry’s statistics, 12,612 tourists took up the homestay packages in the state in 2011, with 9,384 recorded in the previous year.

To date, a total of 409 homestay operators have been registered by the ministry in Sarawak providing 539 accommodation facilities and the accommodation provided is either in the form of individual traditional houses or longhouses.

The Sarawak Director of the Federal Tourism Ministry Office Esther Douglas said the homestay programme in Ba’Kelalan could be the best in the country.

“In terms of hospitality and commitment they are among the best,” she told Bernama.

Esther, who went to Ba’Kelalan in February, said plans were in the pipeline to improve tourism infrastructures in Ba’Kelalan under the Homestay Infrastructure Improvement Development Project in the current 10th Malaysian Plan (10MP). She said among the the components of the projects were erecting information signage along Mount Murud trek and homestay signage at strategic locations in the Ba’Kelalan area.

“The ministry has allocated RM48,000 for the project to be managed by Lawas District Council,” she said, adding that it would not only benefit homestay operators in Ba’Kelalan but the whole community. Previously to reach Ba’Kelalan via road would be a back breaking experience as the former logging track between Long Luping-Ba’Kelalan road could pose serious danger to those who have not exprienced navigating the muddy and slippery road that takes up to 12 hours or days to reach Ba’Kelalan during the rainy season. — Bernama

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Monday April 9, 2012

Ba’Kelalan Highland cashing in on homestay programme