Sarawak Tourism further strengthened its relationship with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) during its bilateral talks at UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid Spain, today (March 16). This was Sarawak’s first official visit to the UNWTO Headquarters, led by The Honourable Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak.
This historic visit for Sarawak, sought to enhance bilateral relationship with the world body to elevate the region’s position as a leading player in Responsible Tourism and a leading destination for eco-tourism and business events in Southeast Asia. Sarawak looked forward to benefit from UNWTO’s expertise in its quest towards becoming a sustainable destination and hoped to obtain the Global Destination Sustainable Index accreditation from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
In his speech at the UNWTO, Dato Sri Abdul Karim mentioned, “The Sarawak Government has long recognised the importance of environmental sustainability in all our efforts. Our Sustainable Environment Blueprint embraces both Green and Blue Economies, to develop a lush landscape of sustainable opportunity and environmental protection, where nature and industry can seamlessly intertwine. To preserve the delicate balance of its natural resources, Sarawak will also be embarking on sustainable blue economic initiatives by taking a holistic approach to realise sustainable ocean- based economies.”
The Minister also mentioned that the region’s iconic events, namely the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) and Borneo Jazz Festival had promoted responsible tourism initiatives such as the EcoGreenPlanet Programme, where certain proceeds of the virtual tickets had gone towards tree-planting activities. This was in support of The Region’s aspiration to plant 35 million trees to contribute towards Malaysia’s target of planting 100 million trees under the country’s reforestation programme to help fight global climate change.
Recognising that festivals have massive carbon footprint and that waste generated has one of the most prominent environmental impacts, proactive measures have been taken towards creating and implementing a sustainable, eco-friendly festival for the RWMF, including banned single use plastics, encouraged upcycling used materials and explored innovative solutions to waste management and even provide Shuttle buses to ferry festival-goers to alleviate carbon emission. The RWMF will be held from 23rd to 25th June this year, at the Sarawak Cultural Village.
The UNWTO congratulated Sarawak for the region’s concrete efforts in sustainable practices. The world body also recommended Sarawak’s involvement in their flagship initiatives including INSTO, One Planet initiatives (Global Tourism Plastics initiative and the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in tourism), Best Tourism Village and the World Tourism Barometer, all of which could be catalysers to support Sarawak in its progress towards sustainable development. UNWTO also recommended for Sarawak to join the 25th Session of UNWTO General Assembly in 2024 and the 35th CAP-CSA in Cambodia in June this year.
The bilateral discussions also touched on UNWTO’s potential support of Sarawak’s home-grown conference, initiated by Sarawak Research Society (SRS), the International Conference on Responsible Tourism and Hospitality (ICRTH), which was first held in 2021 virtually, involving 96 countries. The ICRTH seeks to harness regional and international partnerships in the areas of responsible tourism and sustainable development.
Among the other efforts to further the eco-tourism message is the publication of Journal of Responsible Tourism (JRTM), the first international journal published in Sarawak in collaboration with Sarawak Research Society (SRS). This was a positive step for Sarawak as the sharing of ideas and resources through the publication will enable better awareness of responsible tourism, making real impact on the industry and community, in line with the initiatives of UNWTO in mobilising Sustainable Development Goals.
Sarawak was also proud to share its close working relationship with international tourism bodies including Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and UNESCO to boost Sarawak’s tourism development. It was also highlighted that Kuching city had been accepted as a member of the UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN) under the Category of “Gastronomy” in November 2021 and had been conferred by the World Crafts Council (WCC) as an “World Craft City” in 2019, making Sarawak the first in Malaysia to be given this prestigious recognition.
Other landmark successes of Sarawak included, recognition of the Sarawak Delta Geopark as Malaysia’s sixth National Geopark in 2022, potentially to be UNESCO Global Geopark by 2026. Sarawak’s Niah National Park is also set to become another precious gem in Sarawak’s natural treasure trove, to be potentially inscribed as a World Heritage Site (WHS) by 2025.
The Bilateral discussions also looked into Sarawak’s potential admission as an Affiliate Member of the world body, recognising the region as a strong advocate and destination for responsible tourism, as well as a leading destination for eco-tourism and business events in Southeast Asia.
