White and green stripes for Semporna tourist boats
Published on: Friday, October 21, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: Around 30 local boat operators in Semporna will paint their boats white with green stripes to indicate they are for ferrying tourists. It is a move by the Tourism and Culture Ministry (Motac) to curb touts and to standardise tourist boat operations in the district. According to the ministry's State Director Ag Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar on Thursday 60 boats have been selected in the pilot implementation to emulate the colour coding of 'tour bus' operations.
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"This is an effort to enhance the tourism image in Semporna. The main idea is to unify the local boat operators and help them increase their earning and reduce illegal activities," he said. A three-day programme was held by Motac and the Semporna Local Tourism Industry Association towards this end under the 1 Voluntourism: Uniformity of Tourist Boats with the launching held in Mabul recently. The move, which was given the name Image Enhancement Campaign, excludes boats owned by resorts and commercial boat operators. Motac over the years has found there had been illegal tour operators taking advantage of the increase in popularity of Semporna as a diving haven.
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"For example, touts were charging visitors RM200 per head to visit Bohey Dulang with one boat carrying up to 10 tourists each trip," said Ag Ahmad Zaki, revealing that they were taking advantage of the local boat operators by paying them only RM300 on a single trip. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"The move will also help local enforcement officers to spot illegal operators and increase security in the area, while at the same time improve the earning of the local boat operators," he said.
