Royal Brunei Airlines Takes On Tourism Promotion for a Whole Country
Skift Take
The national carrier has set a target of doubling visitor arrivals to Brunei by 2021. But news of the country getting closer to the full implementation of Sharia law could be unsettling for many potential tourists.
For a rich sultanate, Brunei is mightily poor in attracting tourists. Poorer countries in Southeast Asia such as Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, all of which came to the tourism table later than Brunei, have fared better. Cambodia now gets six million arrivals a year, Laos more than four million, and Myanmar 3.5 million last year, even with a tourist backlash over its Rohingya refugee crisis.
Brunei? Just 278,100 arrivals in 2018.
“Singapore gets that in a week,” said Karam Chand, CEO of Royal Brunei Airlines.
The carrier is taking matters into its own hands — or perhaps has been asked to. While it’s normal, in fact imperative, for national airlines to support country promotions, Royal Brunei is playing “the leading role in destination marketing,” Chand told Skift in an interview at the recent Aviation Festival Asia in Singapore.
The airline has in the past launched destination campaigns to promote Brunei. The difference is it has now become the lead tourism marketing agency that charts promotional strategies and the implementation of various campaigns in key international markets, a job that is typically handled by a country’s national tourist board, albeit ineptly sometimes.
Chand said Brunei Tourism’s role is “more about doing efforts on the ground, setting standards, regulating the industry — for example ensuring tours are safe — and helping create new products by working with tour operators and hoteliers.”
“We basically told Brunei Tourism to leave the international destination marketing to us. We’re a bit more experienced in international marketing, as we’ve been doing it for 44 years and we have the people, skills set, and funds. Our knowledge and presence in the [overseas] markets also gives us a significant upside compared to Brunei Tourism,” Chand said.
Royal Brunei’s board has approved a special funding for marketing the destination, he said. The airline is state owned and does not reveal figures as part of government policy.
“Brunei Tourism does not have much funds per se,” Chand added. “That’s on
