Singapore travel agents see Sibu, Mukah as unique experiences for tourists

SIBU (Feb 21): Sibu and Mukah have the potential to provide unique cultural and educational experiences for tourists from Singapore.

Natalie Gay from Centour Travel in Singapore said the culture and history of both places are very interesting and worth selling to travellers.

“We also feel that the culture is something that we will not be able to experience in Singapore. It is very unique and they preserved the history – the place that we visited and the place that we had our meals, they are very authentic.

“One story that is interesting is the Jerunai story (in Mukah). We still see the actual pillar and it is not a replica. That is quite rare because a lot of places tend to remake rather than preserve the thing.

“For the fact that it is still there, it is quite special. Then, we tried the worm (sago grub) and tried different dishes. There are definitely markets, but maybe different segments for different activities,” she told reporters here last night.

Natalie was among 18 travel agents from Singapore in Sarawak under the ‘Meet the Experts’ programme organised by Tourism Malaysia, in collaboration with the Sarawak Tourism Board, Business Events Sarawak, and the Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office Singapore (Statos).

They were in Kuching for a business-to-business (B2B) session and seminar on Feb 17, where they had the opportunity to network with 25 local representatives, including travel agents, tourism product owners, and hoteliers for productive discussions, insights sharing, and relationship building.

They then had the opportunity to participate in a four-day, three-day familiarisation trip to Sibu and Mukah.

Natalie also told reporters that while in Sibu, apart from visiting Sibu Heritage Centre, Sibu Central Market, trying different food, and a Rajang River cruise, the group also experienced pulling mee suah and making kompia among other things.

“We also went to a longhouse in Mukah and we talked to the longhouse people, we tried the food that they cooked for us. We witnessed their music and the dance, and we had chance to ask questions.

“We even visited their premises to see the how they live so it was quite an experience, especially this is the first time we ever been to a longhouse,” she said.

K Ganesh from GVS Holidays Pte Ltd agreed that there is a market for the two destinations.

“We need to tell our customers that there is a new destination and there is a direct flight to Sibu,” he said.

Zulkifli Sahamabi from Zuma Travel in Singapore added the trip has been very educational – from stepping into the longhouse for the first time to trying sago and seeing how it is made.