TUTONG

Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tutong needs to draw in potential tourists passing through Brunei’s coastal highway, which sees about 800,000 local commuters and foreign travellers “whistle” through the district every year, a consultant working on the Tutong’s long-term development plan said yesterday.

Louise Strogen of Integrated Environmental Consultants (IEC) Sdn Bhd suggested that Tutong District capitalise on existing tourism attractions, and build accommodation to prolong visitor stay in the district.

“People kind of whistle in and whistle out. You need to get them to stay and experience more than just Tutong town. It’s got more to offer,” she said during a discussion on the district plan.

“What we’ve found is that there is a high level of tourist products and aspects in Tutong that is not necessarily being utilised to its best advantage at the moment,” she added.

Strogen pointed out that visitor numbers at Tasek Merimbun Heritage Park, declared as an Asean National Heritage Site, were only at 250 per annum, but it is likely that figures were under-reported.

Nonetheless, visitors to the park were predominantly foreign nationals of Asian origin such as South Korean and Japanese tourists.

She noted that the most popular and the most visible attraction in Tutong was the Seri Kenangan beach, located along the highway.

The consultant, who was involved in Temburong’s district plan, urged Tutong district to promote experience-based tourism such as by building on the district’s natural environments such as river cruises on Sg Tutong, surfing and kayaking at the beaches, outdoor pursuits like birdwatching and walks along the hilly Mukim Rambai area, and looking at the the flora and fauna experience.

Other tourism aspects to be considered also included showcasing the cultural diversity of the district’s indigenous races and food elements.

Strogen said that all these attractions could be linked under a “tourism circuit”, where attractions area accessed via loop road around the district. Stopping points around this circuit can play on different tourism themes, such as cuisine, handicraft, lifestyle and environmental conservation.

The attractions could also support the “One Mukim, One Product” concept and make way for increased domestic tourism.

“Instead of just driving through, if you know that there is something of interest to stop at, you could have your stop-off point, your lunch or break, so you could go for a walk,” she said.

“It’s one little stop but they have had a tourist experience in Tutong and they’ve contributed to the economy,” she added.

A lack of tourist accommodation could be the reason why visitors were presently not “staying” in Tutong. With users of the coastal highway including those travelling from Sabah to Sarawak, she stressed the importance of this issue.

“There’s no point in having all those tourists enter if they haven’t got anywhere to stay,” she said, adding that Tutong can look at introducing homestay programmes or beach and riverine resorts.

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