The duty-free island of Labuan is striving to become a preferred ecotourism destination in the Asia Pacific by adopting effective measures to increase activities and promotions related to tourism.

Said Jerry Teo, who is the head of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Business Council (BEBC) for Labuan:

"The measures include upgrading the tourist facilities of Layang-Layangan village and the development of the geopark."

Teo added that the Labuan Geopark had been recognised as a national geopark on Dec 16, 2021.

Labuan was also promoting its signature events such as Labuan Duathlon 2022 (Sept 17-19), Borneo Arts Festival 2022 (Sept 23-25 ) and Remembrance Day (Nov 13 ), he said during the recent 18th BIMP-EAGA Joint Tourism Development Cluster Meeting held here.

The hybrid meeting, hosted by Malaysia, was chaired by Indonesia.

He said JTD would also collaborate with Asean China Centre, Korea and the Northern Territory of Australia to develop tourism in the BIMP-EAGA region.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) would be giving a subsidy of US$5,000 to five countries to strengthen joint tourism marketing and promotions of EAGA destinations through the digital platform, he said.

The meeting was also attended by delegates from BIMP-EAGA member countries, BIMP Facilitation Centre, BEBC, ADB and the Indonesian Consulate General in Kota Kinabalu.