KUCHING: Tourism officials and stakeholders are urged to jointly work with members of the community in efforts to allow them to take a greater role in safeguarding and developing their areas into tourist attractions.
Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said in order to revitalise any host community and rural destination, effective partnership and community empowerment are absolutely essential.
“Hence, well-designed capacity-building programmes are critically important to rejuvenate many local destinations, especially those in the suburbs or rural areas.
“Using the case of Paku Rock Maze Garden here as an example, the partnership and community involvement should be emulated in many other rural destinations in Sarawak,” he said when delivering his speech at the grand opening of Paku Rock Maze Garden in Bau near here yesterday.
Abdul Karim added that before Paku Rock Maze Garden was discovered and developed in late 2021, it was merely an undeveloped primitive stone forest with overgrown shrubs behind a Chinese temple.
“Although it is located by the roadside of Jalan Kuching-Bau, no one really knew what was in here, except the local community.
“Even if you used Google Maps to zoom in the area, you would not see much as it was all covered by trees and when I was briefed about this place some months ago, I made a decision to see it for myself and today is the day.
“I am glad to be here today and I cannot wait to observe this phenomenon myself in a short while,” he added.
Abdul Karim said he was also impressed by the development of Paku Rock Maze Garden which is not just for the sake of the garden itself or gaining more visitors to generate more revenue.
“Responsible tourism initiative is very much at the core of the entire development and decisions were made with community in mind.
“Additionally, facilities and infrastructures are improved gradually to connect visitors to local business and last but not least, I see more and more strategic partnerships are formed among government agencies, business organisations, universities, associations, visitors and communities to achieve common goals,” he added.
Abdul Karim also revealed that he was told that close to 5,000 guests visited Paku Rock Maze Garden in June and July this year based on the names recorded in the guestbook.
“However, I believe that if you include those who did not write their names in the guestbook, more than 10,000 people could have visited the garden.
“Whatever the actual number is, this is a remarkable achievement,” he added.
Among those present were Deputy Minister for Transport Datuk Henry Harry Jinep and Serembu assemblyman Miro Simuh.
