KOTA KINABALU: The duty-free island of Labuan is striving to become a preferred ecotourism destination in the Asia Pacific by adopting effective measures to increase activities and promotions related to tourism.
Said Jerry Teo, who is the head of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Business Council (BEBC) for Labuan:
"The measures include upgrading the tourist facilities of Layang-Layangan village and the development of the geopark."
Teo added that the Labuan Geopark had been recognised as a national geopark on Dec 16, 2021.
Labuan was also promoting its signature events such as Labuan Duathlon 2022 (Sept 17-19), Borneo Arts Festival 2022 (Sept 23-25 ) and Remembrance Day (Nov 13 ), he said during the recent 18th BIMP-EAGA Joint Tourism Development Cluster Meeting held here.
The hybrid meeting, hosted by Malaysia, was chaired by Indonesia .
He said JTD would also collaborate with Asean China Centre, Korea and the Northern Territory of Australia to develop tourism in the BIMP-EAGA region.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would be giving a subsidy of US$5,000 to five countries to strengthen joint tourism marketing and promotions of EAGA destinations through the digital platform, he said.
The meeting was also attended by delegates from BIMP-EAGA member countries, BIMP Facilitation Centre, BEBC, ADB and the Indonesian Consulate General in Kota Kinabalu.