Concrete has great potential in community tourism.

BETONG, Sept. 24: The potential of community-based tourism in Betong is seen to be able to open up more opportunities for local communities including entrepreneurship and tourism product preparation.

Nurhafeezha Ali, Head of the Tourism Adventure Program at Betong Community College, said community-based tourism is among the courses offered to provide exposure to students not only as a tourist guide but also potentially become entrepreneurs.

Among the potential to be highlighted, he said, was a long house around Concrete that could be developed as an accommodation or village inn for visitors.

"For example, through the Sarawakku Sayang program, I can see that among the potential to be highlighted are many long houses that can be used as one of the accommodation.

"From there, I gave the students an idea to create a tour package. We also have attractive places like waterfalls or campgrounds that can offer activities such as stargazing and the concept of returning to nature and 'healing' which is a trend right now", he said.

He said that when he met TVS on Sarawak's program My Darling in Betong.

Nurhafeezha explained that the reception to Gawai festival also shows the great potential of community-based tourism when several long houses were chosen as a venue and welcomed visitors.

He said tourists from inside and outside the area came to Betong to witness Gawai's celebration and experience it with the local community.

"The festival of Gawai in Betong is very popular and many visitors come to Betong itself", he said.

Meanwhile, he said the courses were previously offered in Kuching, but demand and potential of the tourism sector in Betong encouraged efforts to raise public awareness about opportunities available in the area.

In addition to Concrete Community College, the same programs are also offered at Sibu Community College.

Nurhafeezha said that she had also just completed the process of curriculum purification with industry players to ensure course content remains relevant to current needs in tourism sector.

According to him, the process involves researching existing courses and their compatibility with teaching and learning processes as well as industry demands.

"We're going to invite panels like tour operators, travel agents and entrepreneurs to review the existing curriculum", he explained.