Greetings and welcome to the International Tourism Conference and Exhibition 2018.
The Borneo Studies Network, comprising all the 12 major universities and research institutions in Borneo and
with its secretariat at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam, is proud to be organizing this International Tourism
Conference and Exhibition entitled ‘Tourism and Heritage: The ASEAN and Borneo Context’. It will be held
at the Institute of Health Sciences, UBD.
This event is more than just (another) academic conference targeting only researchers. We have sought to
involve and engage with tourism stakeholders: governments, private sector companies, and tourism industry
service providers, especially in the dialogue sessions scheduled for Wednesday 17
th
January, on ‘Emerging
Trends in Eco-tourism and Cultural Tourism in the Digital Age’.
The Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism is responsible for the development of tourism in Brunei
Darussalam; especially important in this endeavour to support the diversification of the Brunei economy is the
promotion of cultural and heritage tourism. Under the banner of ‘Brunei, a Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures’
and ‘The Green Heart of Borneo’, a major emphasis in the tourism campaign is the country’s rich heritage of
cultural and natural resources. Tourism is also an increasingly significant element in the national economic
planning and the regional strategies of all the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
As such we are honoured to welcome Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali Bin Haji Apong,
Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism, Negara Brunei Darussalam, as the Guest of Honour at the
Opening Ceremony on Tuesday 16
th
January 2018.
The relevance of this conference and exhibition can be seen from two recent newspaper headline reports,
appearing on 2
nd
and 3
rd
Jan. 2018:
2/1/18: Tourist arrivals increase by 10% in 2017 - https://borneobulletin.com.bn/tourist-arrivals-bruneiincrease-10pc-2017/
3/1/18:
Brunei
emerging
as
tourism
destination
–
MICE
(meetings,
incentives,
conferences
and
events)
-
https://borneobulletin.com.bn/brunei-emerging-as-tourism-destination/
We
have witnessed an astonishing increase in the range of institutional initiatives to encourage regional
cooperation. Under the catchline ‘Southeast Asia, Feel the Warmth’, ASEAN has launched its second Tourism
Strategic Plan, 2016-2025 and recently its second Tourism Marketing Strategy, 2017-2020. There was the
‘Visit ASEAN@50 Golden Celebration’ to mark the fiftieth anniversary of ASEAN’s foundation in 1967, and
the first ‘Visit ASEAN’ campaign was held in 1992. These strategic developments are supported by such other
organisations as the ASEAN Tourism Forum, an organisation of suppliers and buyers in the tourism industry,
which first met in Kuala Lumpur in 1981; its most recent meeting was in Singapore in 2017 under the title
‘ASEAN: Sustainable Connectivity, Boundless Prosperity’. Its next gathering will be in Chiang Mai, Thailand
in 2018 with the theme of ‘Tourism – Towards Peace, Prosperity and Partnership’.
The major principle which guides ASEAN in its deliberations is that tourism provides an excellent vehicle for
building regional cooperation and it contributes, especially in the field of culture and heritage, to peace,
prosperity, regional and global citizenship, and to an appreciation of the region’s ‘unity in diversity’. The focus
of future developments is to market ASEAN as a ‘single destination’ and to implement and improve a range of tourism quality standards region-wide. Among other notable regional attractions are the ASEAN Heritage
Parks - Brunei’s Tasek Merimbun is one such site, and the region’s 38 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
There has also been a remarkable growth in tourist visitors to the Southeast Asian region, especially with the
opening of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to the international tourism market. From 20 million
visitor arrivals in 1991, this reached 109 million in 2015, and the increase projected in the ASEAN strategic
plan for 2025 is 152 million (an increase of over 4 million annually over the 10-year period). These figures, of
course, do not take account of the equally rapid expansion in local or domestic tourism as the overall disposable
income and the leisure time of the citizens of ASEAN, particularly the middle classes, increase.
A very significant set of statistics is the source countries or regions of international visitors. The most recent
figures for 2015 indicate that just over 42% of arrivals are generated within ASEAN and a further 33% of
visitors come from neighbouring Asian countries (from the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Korea,
Japan, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong). While we tended to think in the past of tourists coming to Southeast
Asia to such places as Bali, Penang and Bangkok, mainly from the wealthy West, from Europe, North America,
and Australia, the substantial growth of the tourism industry is instead being driven by economic expansion
and by social and cultural changes within Asia itself.
In cultural and heritage tourism, and in ecotourism, there is enormous potential in Borneo to build on already
established leisure activity. There are regular crossborder movements between the Borneo states for day-trips,
overnight excursions, leisure weekending, shopping, and visiting family and friends. Some tour companies,
specialising in ecotourism, for example, offer coordinated cross-border Borneo tours which include Sarawak,
Sabah and Brunei. There seems to be much greater scope for the development of this kind of ‘adventure’
tourism and for the expansion of heritage tours.
It is hoped that this will provide a platform for the further expansion of tourism both here in Brunei, and in the
spirit of regional cooperation, in the neighbouring Borneo states as well. This event is possible through the
collaboration and support from Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, Brunei Tourism Board, Borneo
Studies Network and Universiti Brunei Darussalam. Thank you to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as
well as Institute of Asian Studies for their continuous contribution and support Our special thanks to all our
sponsors, organizing and working committee members and volunteers, for their diligence, support and
dedication in making this event a success..
