Visit Brunei 2008

yes it's our turn next year :) I am wondering what will our strategies and plans be in order to lure visitors from all over the world. From marketing and promotion viewpoint, what are the measures taken by the government so far? Have we learnt anything from the previous dissapointed tourists and try to improve our mistakes?

I once asked a Korean businessman during his business visit here in Germany if he would be interested to come to Brunei. His answer was a straight NO. I was not surprised by his answer. In fact, I believe there are more out there who think like he does. My dream is to change their minds one day. Therefore, we must take action!

Here are some suggestions i could think of:

1. Know your target consumers! From statistics, where do most tourists come from? Which countries have the highest no. of tourists? Who are our new target tourists? From there, we can limit our commercials to these countries - enough to represent other countries as well!
   
   
2. Commercials and advertisements on international TV, Magazines (Travel, TIMES n other business mags, National Geographic etc), Publications, international newspaper, internet (YOUTUBE, yahoo, google etc) and so on must Be creative. There are a lot of professional photographers (or even hobbyists) in Brunei. If necessary, employ professional companies for TV commercials from other countries. It's definitely worth the investment. Oh by the way, whoever produced the Jerudong Park commercial made a great job! Include also in adverts a six months schedule plan on what will take place in Brunei during the whole year. It helps travellers to plan and make Brunei sound interesting at least lol.
   
   
   
   
3. Jerudong Park, if not the maintenance... please consider the pricing policy! Does it make serious sense to pay $x for a certain game played? There are Disney Lands and Sunway Lagoon to be taken as examples. The adverts really lured me (yes i haven't been to JP since 2000 i think) Went in 2004/2005, I was really dissapointed.
   
   
4. More interesting programs and further improvement for the recreational parks, historic places and shopping centers. However, we must be aware that Europeans are different from Bruneians. They travel not to shop but in most cases trying to escape from the chaotic workplace and living environment.
   
   
5. Transportation system. Taxis from the APT are ridiculously expensive. Bus system are not properly organized. I admit that I do not know the progress in Brunei since the privatisation. Seriously, what is the point of having more hotels if it is very inconvenient for tourists to travel? Even Holiday Inn in Edinburgh has a bus stop in front of it and Brunei Hall has a metro station nearby.

For now, thats all i can think of kekeke