Twitter chat way to promote Sabah
Published on: Thursday, October 19, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Creating a digital platform to raise public appreciation on the tourism industry, especially among the younger generation, is a way forward for Sabah Tourism Board (STB). The Twitter handle for STB is @sabahtourism, which currently has 16,450 followers (mostly young people), since it was set up in 2009 to inform those interested about Sabah's tourism activities. "#SabahChats was set up two years ago, basically to interact with our Twitter followers," explained STB Deputy General Manager Noredah Othman during the second anniversary of #SabahChats held in Tanjung Aru, here, Monday.
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"Most of our followers come from Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Sandakan. This anniversary actually keeps the momentum. We want to make them ambassadors of Sabah."The more they re-tweet, the more they promote our events, the more people will know about our events. It is a good digital platform for us, a good public awareness on tourism in Sabah."We want the younger generation to understand what tourism is, and also to support tourism in Sabah.
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The digital world is always for the millennial, for the younger generation. It is a good platform, a good way to encourage the younger generation to interact with STB," she explained. She said over the past two years, the impact they received was being able to get more from the local and international community.
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She explained that awareness can be educational also with a lot of tourism events, adding that Twitter is not only to promote events and interesting places in Sabah but also to boost interaction with people in terms of education on tourism."Our Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun is also active on Twitter, so this is one of our approaches to get closer to the people. "It is educational, creating public awareness and the public can appreciate the tourism industry, especially the younger generation," she said. #SabahChats is Malaysia's first Twitter chat held every Friday at 9.30am by @sabahtourism. The online chat provides users with questions and engaging topics ranging from travel to food for 60 minutes. At the end of the chat, a winner will be randomly selected and presented with a prize sponsored by other brands. Regulars and winners from #SabahChats are "awarded" an exclusive pin called "The Socialite Badge" and "earn" the title @sabahtourism "Socialite."There are now a total of 39 "Socialites" with the most recent Solialite; Her Excellency Victoria Treadell, British High Commissioner to Malaysia. The event was officiated by STB General Manager Gordon Yapp who thanked supporters who showed up and urged them to introduce #SabahChats to their friends. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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