Malaysia: Sabah to offer more volunteerism tourism package in the name of conservation

OLIVIA MIWIL New Straits Times 27 Jul 17;

SEMPORNA: The Tourism and Culture Ministry (Motac) will be offering more volunteerism tourism packages for visitors here.

Its state director Ag Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar said such packages were trending among foreigners as most of these visitors often subscribe to the idea of holidaying with a cause, and in this case, conservation efforts.

“The package will have visitors paying to do the volunteerism work that will benefit the ecosystem. “The ministry is working closely with tour operators in developing such packages,” he said during the 1 Voluntourism End in Sipadan Bum-Bum Artificial Reef Programme at Bum Bum Island here.

The four days, three nights programme is part of the ministry’s ‘End in Sipadan’ year-long campaign to promote existing and new diving trails in the state.

Motac launched the diving campaign at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park last December and built artificial reef at Mari-Mari Sepanggar Island in April.

The final site for the campaign will be in Sipadan Island itself, known the world over as one of the world’s best dive sites.

Ahmad Zaki said although Sabah was well known for leisure dives, it was losing out to the strong competition neighbouring countries.

“The island here is a heaven for macro diving especially among underwater photographers.

“We can find a Lembeh seadragon here, which is actually a tiny seahorse as thin as a thread,” he said, adding the species were usually only found in Lembeh Island, Indonesia.