Borneo Escapade Tours (BET) has secured a long-term collaboration with Christine Volpert, a Germany-based tour and travel agent at the ITB Berlin 2024 held from March 5-7.
Managing partner of BET Malvin Marcus and Patricia Kitingan held a fruitful meeting with Christine who expressed her eagerness to explore Saba’s markets.
“Volpert wants to expand her current market (Sumatera, Indonesia) to Borneo.
“Indonesia and Borneo have similarities in terms of cultures and traditions.
Therefore, she is interested in our community-based tourism (CoBT) which combines sightseeing and socio-economic contributions through active participation in community projects,” said Marcus who was aggressively promoting rural tourism and CoBT at the world’s largest travel trade show.
Meanwhile, Director of Sandakan-based Sepilok Tropical Wildlife Adventure (STWA) Johnny Lim said he had fruitful discussions with European tour and travel agents who are keen to bring holiday-makers to Sabah.
“For instance, Denmark tour and travel agents are seeking collaboration with their Sabah counterparts to bring their guests for wildlife and birdwatching activities,” he said.
He added that the agents are attracted to the five-day-four-night Absolute Wildlife Tour that will take tourists to the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Turtle Island, Gomantong Cave and Kinabatangan River Cruise.
According to Lim, agents from Spain are planning to come to Sabah in September this year for a familiarisation (FAM) trip.
“They are looking to discover new destinations in Borneo,” he said.
