ProjectS
Community-based Tourism Roadshow Forum
28th November 2022
Qualitative Research Workshop
28th December 2022
As the year came to a close, one final workshop was held in collaboration with QRAM - the Qualitative Research Association of Malaysia on the 28th of December 2022. This half day workshop was led by QRAM Vice President I, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Irene Tan and Dr. Balvinder Kler, Director, BTRC. The workshop was entitled "Exploring and Encountering Qualitative Research: You Interested?" to encourage more young researchers to delve into the world of qualitative research as part of QRAM's membership drive.
Shore Bird Workshop
8 - 12th December 2022 : Shore Bird Workshop for Beginners and Advanced was held between 8 to 12th of December 2022, jointly organised by the newly established Sabah Bird Watchers Association (SBWA), BTRC, UMS and Tourism Malaysia. The workshop was led by field ornithologist, David Bakewell. The course attracted thirty one participants, some of whom were tourist guides and two who flew in from Singapore. Importantly for tourist guides, the workshops received accreditation for Continuous Tourism Related Education (CTRE) by the Federal Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC). Courses were held daily (half-day) at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, UMS with the other half day off-campus inclusive of a one day field trip to Kota Belud. SBWA aims to continue on its quest to encourage birdwatching as a healthy, outdoor activity for all ages supported by BTRC, UMS.
Community Based Tourism Symposium 2022
2nd December 2022 : CBTS2022 Photos will be shared here soon! Please Stay Tuned!
Student Visit to Pusat Kebudayaan Rumpun Bajau Sama Sabah
23rd November 2022
BTRC hosted tourism students taking the Special Interest Tourism module on a visit to Pusat Kebudayaan Rumpun Bajau Sama, Tuaran. Students experienced a day out as cultural tourists and learnt about the history and culture of the Bajau Sama.
Town and Gown : Sabah Birdwatchers Association,
"Birdwatching : Why You Should Make This Your New Hobby"
8th November 2022
As part of the Town and Gown Seminar series, BTRC at the Faculty of Business, Economics & Accountancy welcomed two guest speakers from the newly formed Sabah Birdwatchers Association (SBA). Mr. Roland Ng, a senior tourist guide in Sabah (Secretary of SBA) and twenty year old Mr. Alexander John (Deputy Treasurer of SBA), an avid birder who won second prize (bird photo contest) at the Borneo Bird Festival in Sandakan last month for his photograph of a pair of Whitehead’s broadbill.
Their insightful two hour lecture on Birdwatching covered both an understanding of birdwatching as a hobby and birdwatching tourism which brings a host of positive impacts to rural areas and tourist well-being. An audience of 50 students listened in awe as both speakers shared mesmerizing details about this activity encompassing history, conservation biology, ornithology, geography, and how tourism is the binding force for protecting bird habitats - the environment. Endemic and migratory birds attract 'twitchers' who are willing to fly out here just to see one for themselves and take that all important photograph. They shared the ins and outs of becoming an expert birder. We also heard about Bird Races where the top five teams in the recently concluded Fraser's Hill bird race were from Sabah.
After the Q & A session, students were invited to try out the scope and binoculars for themselves. SBA seeks to introduce birdwatching as a hobby to the youth as a healthy, intellectually stimulating activity and one suitable for families too. Being out in nature with a purpose promotes well-being after all. Today's lecture was beneficial to students taking the Special Interest Tourism course this semester taught by Dr. Balvinder Kler. Also in attendance today was Dr. Robert Francis Peters, Director of EcoCampus UMS who agreed that birdwatching is a fascinating hobby worth consideration by UMS students.
Town and Gown : Sharing Session
2nd November 2022
Associate Professor Dr. Leila Afshari, Director of Graduate Research, Program Director of Management at La Trobe Business School, kicked off the research engagement session for The Town & Gown Seminars series. In the hope that this collaboration may inspire further research networks in the future.
Inaugural Familiarisation Trip Train Tour by STGA & Manna Tours
27 October 2022
BTRC was invited on a familiarisation trip with other tour businesses in Kota Kinabalu to try their new product train tour.The inaugural trip of The North Borneo Train Tour: Cultural & Historical Papar Train Tours was held in partnership with STGA and Hanna Tours. Please visit www.northborneotraintour.com for further information, and for other exciting online guided tours, visit the Sabah Tourist Guides Association Online Guided Tours Facebook page.
Site Visit to Pusat Kebudayaan Rumpun Bajau Sama Sabah
Team BTRC went on a familiarisation tour to this newly opened (May 2022) cultural centre which showcases the culture of the Bajau Sama community. The centre houses a museum, traditional houses, herb gardens, a small paddy field and horses. An in-house guide led the group during the visit providing clear explanations of the history and culture. Situated in Kg. Lok Batik, Tuaran, the PKBSS is a magnificent addition to the tourist attractions located in this district, about 40 minutes away from Kota Kinabalu.
LIVING IN HARMONY WITH NATURE
Dr. Balvinder Kaur Kler, Director, BTRC as moderator. Discussion on the awareness of biodiversity conservation and how we are able to foster transformational changes to make humans and nature coexist in harmony a reality.
Planet Us is in collaboration between Biji-biji Initiative and the U.S Embassy Kuala Lumpur to increase literacy in environmental sustainability and to promote positive change and habits among youths.
CHANGGIH DESIGN
BUSINESS EMPOWERMENT COURSE FOR ARTISAN CHANGGIH DESIGN
The Business Empowerment Course for artisan Changgih Design, which took place on August 6 and 7, 2022 in collaboration with the Entrepreneurial Research & Development Unit, is one of the outreach goals of the Borneo Tourism Research Centre. In addition, this course is intended as part of the research fellows' corporate social responsibility with UPPK. On each of the two days of the course, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., there are eight courses presented by BTRC research fellows and one briefing by the head of the UPPK unit.
The participants have acquired various business-empowering skills. With hope, BTRC and UPPK's collaboration has benefited all participants. The Certificate Presentation Ceremony was led by Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Rahimie bin Abdul Karim, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Accounting at Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Travel and Tourism Expo 2022 (Sattex 2022)
Travel and Tourism Expo 2022 (Sattex 2022)
The inaugural Sabah Travel and Tourism Expo 2022 (Sattex 2022), featuring rural micro tourism players, was held on the 24-25 June 2022 in ITCC Penampang, Joniston Bangkuai (Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture & Environment of Sabah) officiated the event, featuring 110 local and international tour operators at the Ground floor of ITCC Mall Penampang from June 24 to 26, 2022.
The event aims to stimulate the tourism industry which has been devastated by the pandemic. 110 booths that showcase domestic tourism in Sabah, district tourism associations, accommodations, airlines, cultures, handicrafts, local products and traditional food. government tourism agencies from Malacca, Selangor and Terengganu Other activities held in conjunction with the event are traditional dance and music performance, blood donation campaign, cooking competition, children drawing and colouring competition, artists’ performance, tourism forum and workshop.
Sabah Borneo Tourism Research Centre ( BTRC) participated in a forum titled forum: the hope of the tourism industry after pandemic with industry players as a panel Datin Saadiah Abdul Rashad, Mr Azizul Julirn Azizul Julirn, Datuk Dayang Khatijah Datu Bachtiyal, and Prof Dr Rozita Uji Mohammed as the moderator the forum discusses smaller, rural tourism players that are lesser-known because they have not been highlighted as much.
Sattex in an effort to stimulate two-way tourism exchanges with other states. the three-day expo is expected to attract 15,000 visitors and hit more than RM1 million in sales from the travel packages and promotions. as MASwings and Malindo Air have sponsored 10 air tickets as lucky draw prizes, while the main prize of tickets to Bali and Langkawi are sponsored by QVC vacation club.
2nd Asia Parks Congress
Over 1,250 delegates from 49 countries participated in the Second Asia Parks Congress in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia from 25-29 May 2022. It was jointly convened by Sabah Parks, Malaysia and IUCN, in one of the most diverse natural and cultural regions of the world. One of the first large, environmental gatherings to be held in Asia since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Congress attracted participants from across Asia and beyond, representing government agencies, NGOs, international organisations, youth, Indigenous peoples and local communities, academia and the private sector. BTRC acts as a volunteer coordinator for UMS and Dr. Balvinder Kaur Kler joined the poster exhibition title The Six Facets of Place attachment for Visitors' Well-being to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, Malaysia.
1stopBorneoWildlife's
The exhibition aims to raise awareness about endangered animals, particularly pangolins. Borneo Tourism Research Centre took the initiative to participate in this exhibition to inform the public about the organization's existence, as well as to fulfil one of the organization's missions, which is to raise awareness and strengthen the capacity of tourism as a socio-economic driver for Sabah through outreach programmes based on regenerative tourism. BTRC displays special interest tourism posters created by students in the Tourism Management Program that focus on (R.E.A.L. Travel).
SIT (Special Interest Tourism) - "Traveling for the sole purpose of practising or enjoying a particular hobby. Unique hobbies, activities, themes, or locations that appeal to niche markets " (Smith, et al., 2010). The tourist's search for novel, authentic, and high-quality tourist experiences is characterised by SIT, where travel is Rewarding, Enriching, Adventuresome, and a Learning experience (Read, 1980).
Various activities such as Wildlife exhibition, Talks, TikTok and Art Competition, and Busking were held during the two-day pangolin day exhibition programme, which included exhibitions from various government agencies and NGOs.
Pangolin Day Exhibition
Date : 16th & 17th April 2022
Time : 10am – 6pm
Vanue : WoW 1.0 SAG Art Space, Kota Kinabalu
Activities : Wildlife exhibition, Talks, Tiktik and Art Competition and Busking.
Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival Sabah Film Lab Closing Ceremony 2022
On the 28th of March, BTRC was invited to attend the Closing Ceremony of the KKIFF Sabah Film Lab 2022. KKIFF were instrumental in linking Sabah Tourist Guides Association (STGA) with the International Relief Fund for Organisations in Culture and Education 2021, German Federal Foreign Office, Goethe-Institut and other partners which funded the training for Online Guided Tours (OGT) in collaboration with Sabah Tourism Board (STB).
While borders were closed, Sabah’s tourist guides kept themselves busy learning new skills and produced OGT which were screened via the Sabah, Malaysian Borneo fb page. Although virtual tourism can never replace the real deal, it was a useful way to keep the Sabah brand alive. At the ceremony, guides received their certificate of completion.
BTRC has been actively promoting these OGT to support the efforts of STB and STGA. In return, STGA extended an invitation for BTRC to attend this event. Newly appointed BTRC Research Fellows, Dr. Oscar Dousin and Dr. Bamini KPD Balakrishnan attended the closing ceremony which was held at the Sutera Harbour Resort.