{"id":3487,"date":"2025-07-01T16:46:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T16:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/?p=3487"},"modified":"2025-07-01T16:46:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T16:46:04","slug":"gaya-island-villages-turning-into-tourism-attractions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/?p=3487","title":{"rendered":"Gaya Island villages turning into tourism attractions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A vibrant transformation is taking place on Gaya Island, where water villages are turning into tourism attractions through a community-driven effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai praised the Meraki Daat Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, for actively engaging Gaya Island residents in reimagining their homes as potential community-based tourism destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This follows Joniston\u2019s initial meeting with the group in 2022, during which he encouraged the adoption of a community-based tourism model to ensure stronger local involvement and shared economic benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joniston, who also chairs the Sabah Tourism Board, said the initiative supports the state\u2019s commitment to sustainable tourism, especially through attractions that reflect Sabah\u2019s identity and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Meraki Daat Initiative president Michelle De La Harpe led a team to brief Joniston on the progress of Project Picasso, which aims to revitalise the water villages by turning them into Instagram-worthy destinations through art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project involves painting stilt houses and collaborating with the Sabah Tourism Board to promote these unique communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, the Sabah Tourism Board organised a workshop that brought together five Gaya Island villages: Lok Urai, Torong Logong, Lobong, Kesuapan and Kampung Pondoh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joniston was informed that the villages are now moving toward formal registration under the name Community-Based Tourism Gaya Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a positive step forward. Pulau Gaya is a unique settlement with its own story to tell,\u201d Joniston said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDeveloping community-based tourism here will create value for the villagers, especially given the island\u2019s proximity to the city centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, it\u2019s vital to foster a cleaner, safer and more sustainable tourism environment. Local participation and ownership are key to this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the meeting, Joniston also launched the 2025 Project Picasso Art Competition, themed Ocean Creatures, to encourage creative community involvement and further beautification of the villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle said the project\u2019s aim is to transform public spaces into vibrant, community-owned tourism attractions while integrating youth development, art and environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are currently constructing a 200-metre pathway to the volleyball court using eco-bricks made from recycled plastic waste. This innovation won the United Nations Development Programme\u2019s Island Waste Innovation Challenge last year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The art competition runs from 30 June to 31 July 2025, with judging scheduled for 1\u20137 August. Site painting will take place from 20\u201327 August, and the official launch and mural unveiling is set for 31 August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updates on the initiative are available via the Meraki Daat website at www.merakidaat.org and on their social media platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A vibrant transformation is taking place on Gaya Island, where water villages are turning into tourism attractions through a community-driven effort. Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai praised the Meraki Daat Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, for actively engaging Gaya Island residents in reimagining their homes as potential community-based tourism destinations. This follows…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/IMG-20250702-WA0002.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/holidaysabah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}