BRUNEIANS are taking advantage of the current school holidays to travel across the border to visit neighbouring towns such as Kota Kinabalu, Limbang and Miri.

The influx of visitors have formed a beeline of cars at the Kuala Lurah border control post and the Limbang District border as well as Temburong to catch the ferry across the Pandaruan Rivers.

Syarikat Feri Usahasama Sdn Bhd is operating around the clock to accommodate the mass number of cars queuing up to cross the river.

According to some travel agents, flights especially to Kota Kinabalu, are difficult to obtain in light of the festive season, which is just around the corner.

Crossing the border during this time of year is a common ritual amongst Bruneians and is so popular that a family of 40 is planning to travel to the neighbouring state by bus after receiving their pay and end-of-year bonuses.

Meanwhile, the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, Sarawak has distributed 1,000 Year-End Sale (YES) fliers at the Miri-Brunei border to attract more Bruneians to shop in Miri. A board spokesperson said on Tuesday the
board is actively promoting the campaign, the Borneo Post reported.

“We are aware that the number of tourists from Brunei has slightly decreased this year.

“Therefore we will work closely with the state government to promote our local shopping complexes including new ones that will be opening next year,” she said.

She added that apart from the YES campaign, the board will also be participating in the Brunei Travel Fair 2010 to further boost Miri’s tourism spots.

“The government is also drafting a plan to win back Bruneians’ confidence to shop in Miri. We want to create a safe environment for them when they shop here,” she said. Some 75,517 Bruneians visited Miri from September to November this year, a decrease of 14 per cent compared to 85,109 in the same period last year.

The spokesperson said there are a number of new shopping complexes in Miri, including the Merdeka Mall at the Miri Airport Road, which is expected to start operating next year. She said the response to the YES campaign is currently picking up following the distribution of the promotional fliers. YES began last Nov 25 and will run until Jan 3.

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