James Kon

Brunei Tourism yesterday gave updates on the country’s tourism plans for 2020 and the latest figures of international tourist arrivals by air to 36 international media personnel at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2020 media briefing.

Acting Deputy Director of Brunei Tourism Salinah binti Salleh and Rita Suzanty Andry from the Marketing and Promotion Division of the Tourism Development Department gave the presentation at the Bridex Hall.

The visiting foreign media for the ATF and Travex were also given a tour of attractions in the country and introduced to local cuisine.

There were 213,007 international tourist arrivals to Brunei by air from January to August 2019. The figure surpasses last year’s total tally of 183,637.

The contributing factor for the increase of 16 per cent year-on-year in 2019 was the high impact of travel demands from the Far East market such as China, South Korea and Japan as well as improvements in air connectivity, local events and international sporting meets.

Brunei Tourism’s market focusses for the coming years are eco-tourism, community-based tourism, Islamic tourism, sports and adventure, and educational tourism.

Salinah spoke about major developments in Brunei’s tourism industry including the construction of the first luxury eco-resort in Temburong District projected to cost BND4.5 million.

This year is the Brunei-China Year of Tourism 2020.