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Sabah can learn from Yogyakarta's transformation into world-class destination

YOGYAKARTA: Community-based tourism (CoBT) operators in Sabah can learn from Yogyakarta's award-winning Nglanggeran Tourism Village on how to transform into a world-class rural travel destination.

Sabah Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Joniston Bangkuai said rural tourism players must embark on a transformation to woo high-end tourists and boost revenue.

The state's tourism authorioties have set a target for CoBT to become a world-class rural tourism destination by 2030.

"We should not limit ourselves to our own examples of success but instead look to the achievements of others and draw ideas and motivation from them.

"This way, we will be able to raise the bar for rural tourism and make significant improvements.

"We want to see high-end offerings in our rural destinations so we can lure quality tourists," he said after touring the Nglanggeran Tourism Village today.

Joniston was in Yogyakarta along with the Sabah tourism team for the Asean Tourism Forum and to visit several attractions for products updates.

Also present were Sabah Tourism Board deputy chief executive officer Julinus Jimit and Federation of Rural Tourism Association Sabah (FeRTAS) president Walter Kandayon, who is also a board member of Sabah Tourism.

Joniston said Sabah rural tourism players could learn from Nglanggeran's effective self-marketing.

"I have informed FeRTAS to get in touch with the Nglanggeran Tourism Village committee with the hope that we can make future engagements in Sabah," he added.

Nglanggeran Tourism Village was named the World's Best Tourism Village 2021 by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). It had previously won the 2017 Asean Community-Based Tourism (CBT) Award.

Perched within the Gunung Sewu Geopark, Nglanggeran offers a variety of tourism activities and services, such as cultural tours, homestays and outdoor recreation, appealing to a wide range of tourists.

Joniston said Sabah could also learn from local experts on how to manage geoparks and apply them to the Kinabalu National Geopark, which covers the districts of Ranau, Kota Belud and Kota Marudu.

During the visit, Nglanggeran Tourism Village manager Sugeng Handoko shared how the village's efforts to promote community-based tourism had brought in approximately RM2 million in revenue annually.

Following their success, the village had to limit the number of visitors from 14,000 to 8,000 visitors a month in order to focus on attracting quality tourists and ensuring sustainability.

Sugeng said they were more than willing to share their experience and at the same time, learn more about the unique offerings in Sabah through engagement with Sabah's community-based tourism players.

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