KOTA KINABALU: Labuan has adopted effective measure to increase activities and promotions related to tourism at the island.

BIMP-EAGA Business Council (BEBC) Labuan joint tourism development head Jerry Teo said several works have been done to support the initiatives.

Among them are the upgrade works of tourist facilities like Layang-Layangan Village and the development of geopark.

Labuan’s ecotourism product, Labuan Geopark has been recognised as national geopark on 16
Dec 2021 during the National Geopark Committee Meeting No. 1 of 2021.

Teo added part of Labuan’s tourism promotion is participation in 2022 signature events such as Labuan Duathlon 2022 (17 – 19 Sep), Borneo Arts Festival 2022 (23 – 25 Sep) and Remembrance Day (13 Nov).

“We at BEBC Labuan support BIMP-EAGA tourism initiative to make its member countries including Labuan as preferred ecotourism destination in the Asia Pacific.

“The uniqueness of Labuan makes the duty-free island has the potential to becoming tourist destination,” he said after attending a recent a hybrid BIMP EAGA meeting to discuss and update on the 2020 – 2022 Rolling Pipeline Projects.

It was chaired by Indonesia through Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

The meeting also highlighted convergence initiatives with other EAGA Clusters such as Transport,
Environment, and Socio-Cultural and Education.

In addition to convergence with other clusters, JTD also collaborated with development partners such as ASEAN China Centre, Korea and Northern Territory of Australia in developing BIMP-EAGA region tourism.

BIMP-EAGA Tourism Support Initiatives presentation by Asian Development Bank (ADB) explained
to the delegates in its effort to boost the EAGA tourism through digital platform.

A subsidy of USD5000 given to five countries to strengthen joint tourism marketing and promotions of EAGA destinations using various branding platforms and marketing strategies.

In the meeting, the JTD Cluster is also reviewing the strategic plan for BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025
(BEV2025) by ADB under the JTD Cluster, the goal is to establish EAGA as an eco-tourism
destination of choice in Asia Pacific.

“BEBC Labuan always prepared on collaboration with Facilitator Authority for the effective
administration and information sharing to business owners.

“With grants offer by China, Japan, Korea and Australia for selected industry, we highly encourage business owners to take this opportunity to grow their business and at the same time can help to boost the socio-economy and tourism industry in Labuan,” he said.