'Pom Pom just like Maldives'
Published on: Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: A group of Chinese tourists who visited Pom Pom island on the farthest point of Sabah that is half hour by speedboat from the Phillipines described it as similar to Maldives in the Indian Ocean.What made the trip memorable – made possible by ex-Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh's Borneo Airline – is that they ventured to go there at all considering that Abu Sayyaf gunmen shot dead a Taiwannese tourist and kidnapped his companion in November 2013."Very much a match to Maldives," said Shanghai-based Borneo Airlines Marketing Manager Jannie Wang. "This alone is a great selling point.ADVERTISEMENT "The only weakness is Pom Pom lacks full Internet access – very important to Chinese tourists , no wifi in rooms, only in restaurant and rest area, which probably suits western tourists who don't like to know too much once out in natural places like this but Chinese tourists like ever body to know their whereabouts in the world," Wang noted the difference."They whatsapp everything and get thrills out of the torrents of responses, such as, Hi: we are in the Maldives of Southeast Asia – a place you don't know!" "Actually , the biggest promotion difficulty concerns MAS, the psychological barrier over the mysterious disappearance of MH370 which has never been found," Wang told Daily Express."Many say they are keen to come but the next question is: which airline, you say MAS, they say no," Wang related. ADVERTISEMENT "The Chinese market is huge but how to sell Sabah is a headache. Number 1, airline problem; Number 2, transportation not very convenient," said Wang, citing absence of direct Shanghai-Tawau flight, requiring transit KK, a short haul flight to Tawau, land and sea trip. " Twelve hours all in to get to Pom Pom – comparable to going all the way to Maldives direct in 10 hours only," Wang noted.
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"Plus, if price is on the high side, people reason isn't Maldives better?" Wang noted. Visibility of the islands in Semporna like Pom Pom is also very low compared to world famous holiday destination Maldives." So I have to sweet talk people into discovering an island like Pom Pom which people have no idea about, she said. "You need to push : Hi brother, you want to go? Where? In Malaysia, a different place in Malaysia, Sabah, outside Sabah, there is an island, very beautiful, very pretty, the Sea water is turquoise green, the seabed full of corals and fish. Then they might say places full of fish and corals are many," Wang recounts her experience.Cost then comes into play."At the moment, price still tends to on the high side because lodging is calculated on individual basis – renminbi 4,000 per person per night, plus MH fare 2000 Shanghai-KK and becomes hefty after adding transport to Tawau to Pom Pom.""Since one night gives visitors no impression, you must arrange two nights but cost becomes high. You do renminbi 6,000 for Pom Pom, people do 5980 for Maldives, fare and hotel included, where is your competitive edge when people feel Maldives is a world famous island holiday destination but Pom Pom has no name, very few people know it." TV ads is an expensive business easily running up to renminbi 100,000."You can dump that investment in but can you recoup the money expended?" But being the prime pusher of this route from Shanghai, Wang hoped official support will come forth for a Sabah based company's Shanghai branch. Wang criticises a less than total visa waiver which applies only to groups but not individual Chinese travellers to Malaysia. "It's not logical because it adds add cost to tour companies and drives Chinese to Thailand, " she pointed out."For example, if I book 20 seats per week on MH flights, even if they are individual travellers, I must send a travel guide – a rule which applies to groups. So can you not see it raises my expenditure?""Since you have visa-free entry policy, why not across the board? She suggested."Visa-free entry for all means we gain a lot of time in recruiting clients. I can sell right up to the last minute so long as there are vacant seats. Tomorrow we go, today I still can accept buyers but not when it takes three days to get a visa processed," she explained. "Thailand doing very well in contrast because it is so convenient for us to recruit clients. Indonesia too is visa-free across the board. This is very important, time is very important. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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For example, if my tour to Sabah is July 4, July 1 I must close booking, I cannot accept more clients." "Thailand can, Indonesia no need, Maldives no need, why Malaysia needs?" Wang asked.