Rhetoric not enough to move tourism industry

The tourism sector, which is the second largest industry in the country, needs more “action”, not just “rhetoric”, to move it forward.

Deputy Tourism Minister Datuk James Dawos Mamit said while branding exercises were necessary, follow-up actions were necessary to make any proposed project work. “Creative strategies for implementation is a must … otherwise everything will end up as mere rhetoric,” he said at the closing of the state-level ‘Student Tourism Programme (3P) Carnival 2011’ and speech competition on ‘1Malaysia Green 1Malaysia Clean’ at Sarawak Cultural Village here on Sunday.

On the 3P programme, Dawos commended the organising committee for successfully holding it in two languages — Bahasa Malaysia and English.

Fifty six students and 21 teachers from 16 schools attended the three-day event which was organised by the Ministry of Tourism and State Education Department.

Dawos called for more 3P programmes to be organised in order to expose the students on the importance of the tourism industry, with the hope that they would one day be tourism ambassadors. “We need activities that are more practical so that the student will understand more about the tourism industry,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tourism Malaysia state director Esther Douglas Udam said the 3P programme was meant to educate the students about cleanliness and the need to preserve the environment. “It is hoped that once the participants stepped out from the programme, they will bring the experience with them and hopefully share it with their friends at school. In short, they would be our young tourism ambassador,” she said.

In the speech competition, Shafizan Suhaili from SMK Bintulu emerged champion in the Bahasa Malaysia category while Noor Hanisa Hanapi from SMK Matu came in second, Raffaela Cheau Mei of SMK Muara Tuang, Samarahan (third). For the English category, Aiman Nabila Alwi from SMB St Theresa won the first place, Edmund Pan Ing Shien from SMK St Columba, Miri (second) and Brandon Ling Kie Chai from SMK Methodist Sibu (third).