Former royal playground is now proving a drawcard for holidaymakers tired of low-end shopping tours ROYAL BRUNEI Airlines' flights between Hong Kong and Brunei are filled with curious tourists from Hong Kong and the mainland who want to see the Sultan's opulent Empire Hotel and Country Club - an exclusive playground for local royalty and visiting dignitaries before 2000. It dazzled delegates at the Apec CEO Summit in 2000 and because of popular international demand was opened to outsiders and has become a top tourism drawcard. Tour packages from Hong Kong and the mainland, which include a one-night stopover in Brunei with a stay at the Empire, are drawing enough passengers to pack RBA's 140-seat Airbuses. The airline has added more flights since April 28. In the past, tourism was of little significance to the oil- and gas-rich economy. It is now seen as a means to 'diversify the economy, create employment and generate business creation', according to Chris Robles of Tourism Brunei. 'RBA is the key link between Brunei and the world, and especially the Asia-Pacific region. They are helping promote tourism to Brunei through their Golden Touch Holidays' ground operations,' he said. The number of visitors from Hong Kong has been negligible. The 497 people from Hong Kong who visited last year accounted for 1 per cent of Brunei's total visitor arrivals. But the growth has been substantial since Morning Star Travel Services started sending 160 to 180 tourists a month since November. Asiana Holidays has sent about 4,000 mainlanders to Brunei via Hong Kong a year. Asiana Holidays was the first to include Brunei in its tour packages after the Empire Hotel opened its doors to tourists in 200l. Managing director Tony Poon said the tours targeted mainland travellers because it required a much larger investment to promote new itineraries in Hong Kong. 'Mainland travellers are getting tired of low-end tours in Southeast Asia with too many visits to pre-arranged shopping outlets,' he said. 'Brunei also offers an authentic experience of an Islam culture and has an air of mystery because it has not been opened to tourism for that long. 'We deliberately positioned the tour at the six- to seven-star level, staying at Empire in Brunei and Shangri-La in Sabah, and cut out the obligatory shopping.' Despite the initial high cost of $7,000 a person for the five-day tour to Brunei and Sabah, due to expensive air fares, there were 1,000 takers in the first year. The mainland tour groups helped push the RBA flights' load factors. This enabled the airline to lower the fare and help reduce the price of the tours to $4,680 for a five-day Brunei-Sabah combination with a one-night stopover in Brunei, and $5,180 for the tour with a two-night stopover in Brunei. Last November, Morning Star targeted Hong Kong travellers with a $5,299 five-day Brunei-Sabah tour with a one-night stopover in Brunei, staying at the Empire Hotel. Vicky Leung, the agency's senior product manager, said: 'We saw the potential in introducing tours to Brunei mainly because of the Empire hotel. 'Hong Kong tourists love to see the hotel previously used exclusively to entertain royal guests and dignitaries. Every visitor we have taken there has been impressed by the marble columns decorated with 24-carat gold, the carpet embroidered with 24-carat gold threads and its swimming pool lined with golden tiles. It is a truly royal experience.' To commemorate RBA's anniversary, Morning Star will offer the Brunei-Sabah tour for $4,799 until the end of this month. The itinerary in Brunei includes visits to the Jerudong Park amusement centre, the Kampong Ayer (water village), Omar Ali Saifuddien mosque (the biggest mosque in the country), the Sultan's royal palace and the Royal Regalia museum. Mr Robles said Brunei could also become a popular destination for golfing, relaxation and exploring nature and the rainforests. He said the more adventurous and nature-loving could try overnight tours to the rainforest of Temburong and evening tours to see the Proboscis Monkeys in their natural habitat. However, independent travellers are not likely to rush there yet, as it still takes at least four days to obtain a tourist visa via fax if they are not travelling beyond Brunei. Stopover passengers are issued a transit visa on the spot upon landing. Asiana Holidays has a two-night Brunei-only package for the relative bargain of $3,980, but Mr Poon said it was less popular due to the time it took to obtain a visa. One way for travellers to get around the visa issue is to travel via Brunei to Australia, Mr Robles suggested. 'RBA offers good connections to Australia. Brunei can make a nice and interesting stopover in a destination few people have explored,' he said.
