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Mulu Marriott Resort & Spa (royalmuluresort.com), bringing a true luxury stay to the wonder cave area of Gunung Mulu National Park. As well as an ethnic chic revamp of the 101 longhouse- style chalets, there’s a new lobby lounge, pool and spa, activity centre and Marriott Kids Club. The deserted beaches off the tip of Borneo –


Tanjung Simpang Mengayau – 215 kilometres north of Kota Kinabalu, now have some budget- to-luxury Robinson Crusoe-style getaways. In tropical gardens with direct beach frontage the fully-equipped Hibiscus Villa (hibiscusvillaborneo.com) sleeps up to eight and is priced from RM3000 (£535) a night. The adjacent one-bedroom Hibiscus Beach


Retreat (hibiscusbeachretreat.com) costs RM525 (£94) for a double with breakfast. Transfers from KKIA are RM350 (£62) . Advise clients to take all extras to this isolated area. For a new luxury island stay off Kota Kinabalu’s coast suggest the Gaya Island Resort (gayaislandresort.com). Guests are whisked from KKIA to the check-in lounge at Sutera Harbour Marina before a boat trip over to the 47sqm villas with oversized tubs and ocean-gazing day beds. The old China colonial airs of Sarawak’s capital,


Kuching, are captured at The Ranee, a 24-room boutique hotel on the Main Bazaar riverside strip (theranee.com), converted from two 19th century shop houses. Nightly rates start from £60. The Capital Residence Suites (capitalresidencesuites.


com) has brought modernity to Brunei’s capital, with its smartly furnished rooms


(B$80/£38) and suites (B$180/£85).  Airlines: The only non-stop fl ights from


London to Borneo are with Royal Brunei Airlines (bruneiair.com), which now fl ies new Boeing 777s. The fl ights operate four times


a week from Heathrow’s Terminal Four.  Attractions: Sabah’s Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (bsbcc.org.my) is battling to save the world’s smallest bear, the pint-sized Malayan sun bear or Helarctos malayanus. The bear care centre shares parking, access roads and ticket gates with Sepilok’s Orang- utan Rehabilitation centre so it is worth visiting both in a morning or afternoon. Also in Sabah, there is a new offi cial booking and information website for the highly popular Mount Kinabalu climb: mountkinabalu.com.


Tourism talk “Last year was a diffi cult one, however tourism numbers from the UK remained high and even increased by 10%. Sabah


alone welcomed 33,578 UK visitors – a nine per cent year-on-year increase. But 2015 promises to be an exciting year as Malaysia’s ‘Year of Festivals’ with


Previous page: Borneo’s most famous resident, the orangutan. This page (clockwise from left): Gadong Night Market, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei; Kayaking in the rainforest; diving is big business in Borneo, with the turtle-rich Sipidan top of the list


“Snub global and eat local! High on atmosphere but low on price, the evening pasar malam markets are the occasion to wrap your tastebuds around a culinary crossroads of Malay, Chinese and Indian foods”


TAMARA THIESSEN, AUTHOR OF BRADT BORNEO GUIDEBOOK


several events on the line-up in Borneo including Sarawak’s Rainforest World Music Festival. We will also be involved in a number of trade road shows and are planning a series of familiarisation trips, both to Malaysia and Borneo, as well as hitting the road to do some one-on-one training.” Junus Suhid, new UK Director, Tourism Malaysia, London


“Brunei’s unhurried pace has become an attraction in itself coupled with peaceful, discrete Malay customs. It stands out


among South East Asian destinations for its pervasive tranquillity and way of welcoming visitors. Hospitality is a deeply embedded in our cultural traditions and tourism is seen as a way of diversifying the economy but not at the cost of the nation’s soul, social harmony and environment. “Slow at coming up with new products or fl ashy developments, Brunei doesn’t look like a constant construction site but


sellingtravel.co.uk


an orderly, green and airy country. “UK tourists can easily combine Brunei with Sabah and/or Sarawak for a complete Borneo experience, and we are working on more joint marketing activities to that end.” Salinah Salleh, Brunei Tourism


Where to book it  REGENT HOLIDAYS – 020 7666 1244


The 14-day Sarawak Wildlife and Culture holiday includes trips to Bako National Park and Guning Gading National Park, with prices starting from £2735pp.


regent-holidays.co.uk.  COX & KINGS – 020 7873 5000 Splendours of Borneo, a 13-day, 10-night tour that explores the cultural and natural attractions of Sabah and Sarawak, costs from £3,695pp. It includes the option of an added Brunei stay.


coxandkings.co.uk  ROYAL BRUNEI HOLIDAYS Royal Brunei Airlines offers several tours including the three-day, two-night Discover Brunei stopover package that includes hotels, tours and transfers. It is priced from £90 depending on the class of hotel.


fl yroyalbrunei.com  INTREPID TRAVEL - 0808 274 5111 With a Brunei offi ce, Intrepid can either organise tailor-made tours ex-UK taking in sights such as proboscis monkey river safaris, the water village, the oil coast and Temburong National Park. Its Best of Borneo 21-day tour, departing twice monthly, is from £2,280pp. intrepidtravel.com 


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