{"id":9971,"date":"2010-11-10T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2010-11-10T00:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/?page_id=9971"},"modified":"2015-05-28T03:59:25","modified_gmt":"2015-05-28T03:59:25","slug":"ukm-s-knowledge-eco-tourism-can-bolster-up-tourism-industry-says-malaysian-minister-of-tourism","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/archive\/year-2010\/november-2010\/ukm-s-knowledge-eco-tourism-can-bolster-up-tourism-industry-says-malaysian-minister-of-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"UKM\u2019 s &#8220;Knowledge Eco-Tourism&#8221; Can Bolster Up Tourism Industry, says Malaysian Minister of Tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main \"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">0<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukm.my%2Fnews%2Farchive%2Fyear-2010%2Fnovember-2010%2Fukm-s-knowledge-eco-tourism-can-bolster-up-tourism-industry-says-malaysian-minister-of-tourism%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/?p=9971&amp;via=https:\/\/twitter.com\/ukmtwit\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-toggle-container\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/images\/stories\/Campus_News_Picture\/eco1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>WEDNESDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2010 19:07<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>By Kuah Guan Oo<br \/>\nPix by Saliman Leman<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">BANGI, 10 Nov. 2010 \u2013\u00a0The tourism sector in the country can expand with the knowledge eco tourism concept introduced by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), said Tourism Minister Dato\u2019 Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen here today.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nShe said the conventional understanding of tourism would\u00a0 invariably refer to the beauty of nature, arts and culture, historical artifacts and heritage.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nBut the tourism sector can be developed further through the promotion of knowledge eco tourism introduced by UKM, she said in her speech after a briefing by UKM Vice Chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dato\u2019 Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin, in conjunction with her working visit to UKM, here.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nNoting that the tourism sector is the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> largest contributor to the national coffer, she said, \u201cthis proved the importance of the tourism sector in generating and boosting other related sectors like transportation, restaurants, hotels, handicraft, textile as well as other small and medium industries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nShe said the tourism sector must be developed and expanded further to meet the challenges of the Government\u2019s pursuit for a new economic model to ensure that the rakyat have high incomes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nDr Ng also said that universities can no longer be \u201civory towers\u201d\u00a0that are exclusive that cannot be accessed by the ordinary people. \u201cInstead , universities including UKM are directly involved not only in drafting national policies but also in preparing the mechanism for a certain policy to be implemented effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nThough knowledge can be acquired from books or journals but the world outside are also sources of knowledge that could be generated and promoted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nShe said the briefing by Prof Sharifah Hapsah has\u00a0made others aware, especially those directly involved in the tourism industry, that the tourists of today are different from a few decades ago, in that they have different expectations and needs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/images\/stories\/Campus_News_Picture\/eco2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/images\/stories\/Campus_News_Picture\/eco3.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tourists of today are more discerning and expect more from the destination or a certain thing that they are visiting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nWith increasing educational level among the tourists, especially those from the West, they would want to know the stories or what is behind the beauty or uniqueness of tourist attractions like Tasik Cini, Lata Jarum, Bukit Fraser, Mersing, Pulau Langkawi and so on.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nDr Ng also said she is happy with UKM for undertaking intensive measures to restore and preserve several areas with high tourism potential.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n\u201cI am happy because the academicians and post-graduate students are involved in transmitting knowledge to the tourists which in turn would strengthen the concept of knowledge eco tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nShe urged\u00a0 other institutions of higher learning to be more active in undertaking academic activities that could project the uniqueness of Malaysia and attract participation from all corners of the world.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nHer ministry,\u00a0she said, would directly support all knowledge-based activities that could project Malaysia as a knowledge destination for tourists.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n\u201cWe want to see more tourists coming to Malaysia not just for its beauty and uniqueness but also for things produced from the thinking of her people which they want to learn about,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/images\/stories\/Campus_News_Picture\/eco4.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/>\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/images\/stories\/Campus_News_Picture\/eco5.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Earlier, Prof Sharifah Hapsah, in her briefing, said UKM has seven research stations which are open to visitors who can arrange their tours through a travel agency, K Eco Tourism Sdn Bhd.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nSix of the stations are outside the university &#8212; the Tasik Cini Research Centre (Pahang), the Fraser\u2019s Hill Research Centre (Pahang), the Langkawi Geopark Research Centre (Kedah), the Mersing Marine Ecosystem Research Centre (Johor), the Lata Jarum Recreational Forest Research Centre (Pahang) and the Sungai Pulai Research Station (Johore), while the one within the campus is the Bangi Permanent Forest Reserve.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nVisits can also be arranged to the Cultural Centre of Students\u2019 Service Department, the Academic Heritage Museum, and the Technological Innovation and Green Energy Centre in UKM.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\nAll the tour packages would enable visitors to know more about the eco-systems, the trees and plants, culture of the people as well as their uses or values to society.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/images\/stories\/Icon\/ukmnewsportal.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WEDNESDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2010 19:07 By Kuah Guan Oo Pix by Saliman Leman BANGI, 10 Nov. 2010 \u2013\u00a0The tourism sector<a class=\"tukm-readmore\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/archive\/year-2010\/november-2010\/ukm-s-knowledge-eco-tourism-can-bolster-up-tourism-industry-says-malaysian-minister-of-tourism\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9972,"parent":1416,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9971","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9973,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9971\/revisions\/9973"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}