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Borneo Bulletin Yearbook 2019
TOURISM
The Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) through
the Tourism Development Department has taken steps to
develop and strengthen Brunei Darussalam’s tourism sector in a
bid to ramp up the country’s economic activities.
The Tourism Development Department has identified a number
of ambitious tourism products with key initiatives to improve
the attractiveness, diversity and quality of tourism products and
services as a means to diversify the country’s economy.
The target is to increase the number of visitors to Brunei from
219,000 in 2016 to 450,000 tourists by 2020, and increase
tourism revenue from BND69.8 million to BND335 million by
2020. As a result of these initial efforts, the tourism sector has
seen an increase in the number of annual tourist arrivals to the
country in recent years.
According to recent statistics, Brunei has witnessed an upward
trend in visitors over the last three years, with data indicating
that tourist arrivals increased by 10 per cent towards the end of
2017 compared to 0.3 per cent in previous years.
In the first quarter of 2018 alone, the total number of international
tourist arrivals to Brunei through Brunei International Airport hit
70,729, compared to 67,956 within the same period in 2017, with
the country experiencing an increase of 4.1 per cent in inbound
visitors year-on-year.
This growth was due to Chinese tourists visiting the country
for their Chinese New Year holidays in February as well as
international sports events held in the country such as the Richard
Mille Brunei Championship and Korea Ladies Professional Golf
Association’s (KLPGA) tournament, which gave Brunei wider
exposure to the Far East market.
The positive growth was also attributed to new country product
development initiatives, such as the Bandar Seri Begawan and