KUCHING, 30 October 2020: Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) in conjunction with Grab Malaysia launched the ‘Sarawak Ambassadors Programme on e-learning for e-hailing drivers’, earlier this week.
It targets 1,000 Grab drivers, intending to make them Sarawak Tourism Ambassadors.
The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak, Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, who officiated the launch said, Sarawak was the first State in Malaysia to come up with this tourism awareness module for e-hailing drivers, together with Grab Academy.
“It is extremely timely and apt for STB to take this unique approach to collaborate with Grab Malaysia to provide tourism product modules on the Grab Academy platform. This programme which is exclusively for e-hailing drivers aims to equip them with extra knowledge on tourism and Sarawak’s offerings to enable them to become Sarawak ambassadors,” the minister explained.
“Drivers are usually the first contact with tourists upon their arrival, and during their time exploring tourist attractions and destinations. Hence, it is extremely important that they have good knowledge of major routes, attractions and destinations. As such, I would like to call out to all our Grab drivers, to take this opportunity to arm yourselves with the knowledge to help promote and entice visitors with the wonders and offerings of our beautiful State,” he added.
Meanwhile, according to STB CEO Puan Sharzede Datu Haji Salleh Askor, “the initiative with Grab Academy was part of the Ministry’s and STB’s continuous effort to strengthen our foundation to weather the storm, to be strongly equipped once the storm passes. In this regard, we have extended this ambassador concept among Grab drivers with the hope of enriching their knowledge of Sarawak as a tourism destination and to in turn become Sarawak ambassadors to their clients.”
“STB will continue to place a strong emphasis on enhancing visitors’ experience as part of experiential tourism. With the launch of this Sarawak Ambassadors Programme on e-Learning for e-Hailing Drivers today, we aspire to continuously enhance tourism-related services, in order to deliver an unforgettable visitors’ experience to all who visit our State. It is our hope that this will, in turn, position Sarawak as a globally competitive and recognised tourism destination of choice,” she added.
Under the programme, Grab Malaysia will be reaching out to its database of about 4,000 to 5,000 e-hailing drivers based in Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri for participation in the e-learning training. The modules, which are available in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin, will cover information about Sarawak, culture and heritage as well as tourist destinations.
Grab drivers involved will have access to Grab Malaysia’s Axonify or its e-learning platform under the Grab Academy to provide this online learning. The modules for the e-learning, will be facilitated by Akademi Hospitality & Pelancongan Saujana Sdn. Bhd. or SATT College to cover the Southern, Central and the Northern regions of Sarawak.
Visit: http://www.sarawaktourism.com.
About Sarawak Tourism Board
Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) is the key promoter for Sarawak. STB is a winner of the Asia Pacific Excellence Awards in 2018 and 2016 by Asia-Pacific Association of Communications Directors (APACD) and has received the ASEAN PR Excellence Award 2015 Gold Award. The Board also received the Travel Journal Awards in 2017 for ‘Best for Nature’ category at the ASEAN Tourism Forum. The Rainforest World Music Festival is a five-time Top 25 Best International Festivals recognised by Songlines world music magazine (2011 – 2015), The BrandLaureate World BestBrands Award “Destination Branding” (2019) and PATA Gold Award Marketing Travel Video winner “Why Limit Yourself” (2019).
