Sarawak has been aggressively ramping up tourism promotions to support the industry’s revival in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo credit: Courtesy of the Sarawak Tourism Board
Tourism businesses in Malaysia can avail of financing from the Sarawak Tourism Board for initiatives promoting travel via digital channels.
The scheme, which ends on 30 September 2023, aims to expand the state’s tourism digital footprint. The Sarawak Tourism Board allocates the funds in collaboration with industry partners.
Dubbed the Sarawak Tourism Online Ecosystem Fund, the scheme provides a maximum of 5,000 ringgit ($1,075) per applicant and will fund initiatives like website development, use of booking engines, online advertising, and content production. An applicant can only receive financing for up to three times throughout the program. Application is approved based on a first-come first-served basis.
According to the fund’s guidelines, financing can cover website development including design and maintenance costs. Funding may also be given for the setup of new websites or the redesign or update of an existing site. Web hosting, search engine optimization, and maintenance costs can also be financed under this category.
Incorporating a booking engine into a website can also qualify for financing, including the monthly subscription fees for operators that already use booking engines.
Financing for online advertising covers social media boosting and online media purchases on Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads, and YouTube.
Under content production, financing can cover video production costs, blog articles, photography costs for photo banks or use on websites or social media.
Applicants must be a registered trade company, or registered with or by Malaysia’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and relevant agencies. Sarawak’s inbound tour operators, hotels, homestays cluster, handicrafts entrepreneurs, and operators of tourism-related attractions are also eligible to apply.
Under the guidelines, applicants need to submit a report detailing the outcome from initiatives funded by the scheme.
Funding will only be disbursed once the Sarawak Tourism Board receives the applicant’s report along with invoices or receipts as proof of purchase.
Visitors incentive scheme
Sarawak also has an ongoing visitors incentive scheme to support the tourism industry’s revival.
Running until 15 December 2023, the scheme entails the grant of incentives ranging from 80 ringgit to 130 ringgit to a group of people traveling under a tour package. The amount depends on the number of days booked and the number of attractions visited. The shortest stay required is three days and two nights and the longest is five days and nights, while the number of attractions visited range from two to at least four.
The grants will be coursed through eligible travel agencies. Sarawak has been aggressively ramping up tourism promotions to support the industry’s revival in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the pandemic, Sarawak has been deploying digital technology to promote the state as a tourist destination. Last year, the Sarawak Tourism Board launched a digital platform to enable stakeholders to create more informed strategies and develop more targeted products.
STB InTel, the government-to-business data sharing initiative, would enable ministry and tourism industry stakeholders to leverage on data from government agencies, tourism websites, in addition to Google Analytics, to monitor the effectiveness of tourism strategies, identify new opportunities, and create initiatives and policy recommendations.
The Sarawak Tourism Board’s digital strategy is in line with the United Nations World Tourism Organization thrust to encourage tourism players to embrace digital technology to help revive the sector following the pandemic.
The Sarawak Tourism Board is targeting to attract 3 million tourists to the state this year.