Rural Tourism Management in Sarawak

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Kota Samarahan, 16th October 2019: Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) held Inaugural Lecture by Professor Dr Lo May Chiun, an established scholar and researcher in the field of Management, Finance, and Tourism Management.
 
Professor Dr Lo May Chiun’s lecture was witnessed by YBhg Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi, Vice Chancellor UNIMAS, YBhg Mr Hii Chang Kee, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Sarawak, YBhg Prof John Wilson, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak campus, YBhg Professor Dr Wan Hashim Wan Ibrahim, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), YBhg Professor Dr Hj Ahmad Hata Rasit, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic & International), Deans and Directors of Faculty and Institutes, including top management and representatives from both public and private sectors, strategic partners, members of UNIMAS and students.

The title of her lecture is “Rural Tourism Management in Sarawak”, whereby she shared the current scenario in tourism industry that is integrated with technology, social, cultural, environmental and economic transformations have brought about successive changes and resulted in a growing number of tourists to the rural tourism destinations. Although there has been vast interest in the development of the rural tourism to improve economic standing of the rural communities, the complexities of the tourism development have always been underestimated. Rural tourism destinations have its own resources and locational requirements that must be met to be sustainable. This inaugural lecture provides insights into the ways that the management of rural tourism business are able to leverage on the location niche and their unique selling propositions to generate better income for the communities, industry players and the government.