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Borneo Bulletin Yearbook 2019
steps taken to increase air connectivity by Royal
Brunei Airlines (RB) and Lucky Air through the
introduction of new services to South Korea
and China, as well as efforts by the Brunei
government to relax visa rules such as offering
visa-on-arrival and multiple entry visas for
visitors holding China and Taiwan passports.
Lucky Air, a low-cost carrier based in Kunming,
China, has appointed Freme Travel Services
as their general sales agent to operate twice-
weekly direct flights from Brunei to Kunming
beginning July 2017. To date, the airline has
flown more than 14,000 Chinese tourists into
the country.
In addition, RB’s reintroduced direct flight
services from Brunei to Taiwan on December
3, 2018, one of the efforts from the airlines to
expand its network.
Another local tour operator, Sinar Tours,
introduced a chartered flights package with RB
in December 2016 which ran for 12 consecutive
months until the national carrier decided to
introduce scheduled flights to Incheon, South
Korea at the end of 2017. South Korea has been
identified as one of Brunei’s fastest growing
tourist markets.
Since doing so, Brunei has seen a significant
uptick in tourists from the East Asian country,
with 8,705 visitors recorded for 2017 compared
to 3,551 in 2016, a 145.1 per cent increase.
The cruise industry is another area envisaged
to play a key role in adding a boost to Brunei’s
tourism sector, with further growth expected.
Statistics from the Brunei Darussalam Maritime
and Ports Authority showed that 16 cruise
ships carrying 16,667 passengers and 8,155
crew arrived in Brunei via Muara Port in 2017,
while 21 cruise ships with 23,540 passengers
and 11,524 crew members visited the country
in 2015.
The highest number of cruise ship arrivals to
date was recorded in 2010, when 34 vessels
docked at Muara Port with 33,860 passengers
and 14,310 crew.
The second highest tally was registered in 2014
with 31 cruise ships docking in the country,
carrying 18,810 passengers and 20,236 crew
members, while the second highest number of
passengers was recorded in 2013 at 26,865
(with 16,351 crew members) carried by 25
cruise ships.
Brunei is also beginning to make a name for
itself as a destination for Islamic tourism. In
the Global Muslim Travel Index for 2018, the
country was named the 11
th
best destination
for Muslim travellers among Organisation of
Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, tying with
Kuwait.
The country leapfrogged two places from the
2017 survey when it was ranked 13
th
, clocking
in with an average score of 60.5.