Brunei tourist arrivals to Malaysia showed a positive growth of 87,038 as of September 2022, compared to 2021 when it recorded only 773 arrivals, new Director of Tourism Malaysia (TM) Brunei Hazrina Azman said at a networking event ‘Cuppa Coffee’ with local travel agents and Sarawak Tourism Board representatives.

Malaysian High Commissioner to Brunei, Datuk Raja Reza Raja Zaib Shah was also in attendance.Dato’ Raja Reza highlighted a recent meeting between Brunei King Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim where the two leaders agreed to further strengthen their bilateral relations including tourism.

The Malaysian high commissioner called on local travel agents to be more innovative and to stay relevant.

Datuk Raja Reza said the total Malaysia-Brunei trade last year saw an encouraging growth with RM13.22 billion compared to RM8.03 billion in 2021.

He added that Sarawak will open the Sarawak Trade and Tourism Office (STATO) in the Sultanate this year which will be the second STATO to be established by the state government with the first set up in Singapore in 2019. 

Sarawak also plans to promote Borneo tourism using Brunei International Airport as the hub through joint tourism promotion activities.