INTRODUCTION

This research paper examines the positioning of Sabah for the last five years (between the year 1996 and 2000), where the year 2000 is designated and campaigned as Visit Sabah 2000, Malaysian Borneo - The New Millennium Nature Adventure Destination")  by the Sabah Tourism Promotional Corporation (STPC) and the motivational factors underlying tourists' decision to visit Sabah. Correspondingly, this paper also discusses the competitive advantage of Sabah and the possibility of positioning and marketing Sabah as the northern part of Borneo complimenting The Federal Territory of Labuan Island and Sarawak

This paper is written based on our research funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment of Malaysia under their Intensification of Research in Priority Area program. This research comprises of three phases. The discussion of this paper covers the preliminary study or the first phase of the research. This research was approved by the Malaysian Government, as there is a great need to position and to market Sabah as an international destination.  The  Malaysian  Government  had doubled the allocation for Sabah's tourism projects from RM5.36 million under the Sixth Malaysia Plan (1991-1995) to RM11.1 million under the Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996-2000). The tourism industry is crucial to Sabah as the state government sees tourism as an avenue to diversify the state's economy. Sabah has a very small and open economy that is vulnerable to external cyclical swings. The economy of Sabah has always been heavily dependent on the export of its primary and minimally processes commodities (Source: Outline Perspective Plan Sabah, 1995-2010). These major export items include saw logs and sawn timber, plywood, crude and processed palm oil, cocoa beans and seafood (Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia, Sabah branch, February 2000). Tourism and related services such as hotels, restaurants and transportation have been identified as areas with the highest growth potential as the state of Sabah has many possible and untapped place products. It is mentioned in the Outline Perspective Plan Sabah that covers the period of between year 1995 and 2010 that Sabah can gear itself as the tourism centre of Asean as geographically Sabah is right at the centre of Asean.

Sabah is part of the Borneo Island. Politically, the Borneo Island belongs to three different countries, that is, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The Borneo Island comprised of the Malaysian states of Sabah, Sarawak and The Federal Territory of Labuan Island, the state of Kalimantan that belongs to Indonesia and Brunei. Therefore, geographically the location of Sabah is one of its kind in comparison with any tourism destinations in the world as Sabah is not an island per se but is just part of an island. Sabah is known as "The Land Below The Wind" because it is below the typhoon belt that hits The Philippines Islands. It is a melting pot of many different cultures and traditions. Its population of about 2.9 million (Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia, Sabah branch, February 2000) comprised of 32 ethnic groups, each group having their own festivals, customs and traditions.

The indigenous people include the Kadazandusun, Murut, Bajau, Rungus, Brunei, Orang Sungei, Kadayan and Bisaya The Chinese form the largest non indigenous group with an estimated population of 304,400 followed by a population of 169,500 Malays (Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia, Sabah branch, February 2000).

Sabah has always been promoted as "Malaysian Borneo" by STPC as the word "Borneo" sounds exotic, mystical, mysterious and unexplored to the international tourists. It is stated in the 1999/2000 marketing plan for Sabah that the word "Borneo" has very strong eco-image. On the account of the word "Borneo" manages to entice international tourists, Sarawak, The Federal Territory of Labuan Island and Kalimantan are also capitalizing on using the same word to introduce and to promote their destination to the international tourists. Thus, STPC will have to elaborate further on the location of Sabah in the Borneo Island to the potential international tourists. STPC is an autonomous state government corporation and the main agency responsible for marketing and promoting the state of Sabah.

THE POSITIONING OF SABAH

Sabah has been repositioned from a value for money destination to a nature adventure destination between the year 1995 and 2000. In the 1995/1996 marketing plan, Sabah was positioned as a year round, quality and value for money destination. Currently, STPC's marketing mission focus is to promote and to market Sabah as the "Malaysian Borneo  Premier  Nature  Adventure  Holiday Destination". Besides promoting Sabah as a nature adventure destination, STPC also positions Sabah as a major destination for nature sports and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism. STPC has chosen 10 market brand images for Sabah namely Kinabalu nature (or Kinabalu park, where there are more than 1,000 species of orchids, 27 species of rhododendrons, nine species of nepenthes and 450 species of ferns can be found in the park); wildlife particularly the proboscis monkeys; exploring the Borneo rainforest; soft adventure activities such as jungle trekking, nature walks; tough wild adventure activities such as mountain climbing, white water rafting; cultural experience; diving and snorkeling; islands and beaches for relaxation; MICE tourism; and golfing. The core positioning chosen to promote Sabah among the local tourism suppliers, that is, tour operators and hoteliers is nature and wildlife, followed by Sabah as a destination for soft adventure and diving depending on the needs of their target markets. It is understood that a single positioning cannot possibly serve the total holiday market. It is then crucial to identity niche markets that contain potential tourists who are most likely to respond positively to a destination's particular place products. Positioning recognizes that tourists evaluate and purchase place products based on perceptions and images form in their minds. Positioning of a destination is established by selecting a target market that values specific attributes and designing tourists products that capitalize on those attributes (Witt and Moutinho, 1995, p.327).

Though STPC's intention is to portray Sabah as a multi-image destination, analysis of marketing plans and tourism reports for Sabah for the last five years shows that the positioning of Sabah has not been clearly communicated to the respective target markets coupled with there are only few promotional programs targeting to specific target markets to increase the arrivals of potential tourists. In the year 1995 and 1996, STPC wanted to position Sabah as a year round, quality and value for money destination, however the images of Sabah featured nature, adventure, rest and relax, cultural, divers' paradise and educational. Hence, there was no consistency between the marketing communication message used to promote Sabah and the positioning of Sabah. Marketing strategy is necessary to achieve the destination desired positioning (Kotler and Armstrong, 1999; Reich, 1997). Though, the 1999/2000 marketing plan for Sabah has clear positioning of Sabah and analysis of the demographic and behavioral of potential target markets, it did not stipulate in detail how STPC is going to increase the arrivals of these target markets. For example, the market segmentation analysis indicates that residents of Kuala Lumpur and Johore, the two states that are located in Peninsular Malaysia, as the core markets for domestic tourism where there are strong tradition of outbound and considerable high disposable income, but, there is no deliberation on the types of promotional programs to increase the arrivals of tourists from these two states. Also, there is no calendar of promotional events to enhance the positioning of Sabah to various niche markets in an attempt to attract and to increase the arrivals of these potential target markets.

THE MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS UNDERLYING TOURIST'S DECISION TO
VISIT SABAH

Sabah has divided its target markets into four broad categories namely 

• (i) neighboring markets (Sarawak, The Federal Territory of Labuan Island, Brunei, Indonesia and Philippines), 
• (ii) short haul (Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan), 
• (iii) medium haul (Japan, Korea and Australia) and 
• (iv) long haul (United Kingdom, Europe, North America, South Africa and New Zealand)    (Source: Sabah Tourism Promotional Corporation). 

Responses from the inbound tour operators and hoteliers indicated that one of the major short haul markets for Sabah is Taiwan. The Taiwanese are attracted to visit Sabah as it is considered as a value-for-money and quality destination. They come to Sabah to enjoy the seafood and luxurious hotels. Seafood is also the reason that lures Hong Kong tourists to Sabah. Another existing short haul market is Singapore. Most of the Singaporean come Sabah to relax in the resorts as Sabah is also regarded as a value-for-money destination to them. The difference between the Taiwan market and the Singapore market is that the Taiwanese come as group tours whereas the Singaporean come as free independent travelers.

The Japanese tourists who are categorized as a medium haul market come to Sabah especially to Mabul Island, Lankayan Island, Sipadan Island and Layang-Layang Island solely to scuba dive. Besides scuba diving, the Japanese are also attracted to the many islands and beaches found in Sabah. They like to snorkel and to trek and camp on the various islands such as Manukan Island and Sapi Island that are located within the proximity of Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of Sabah. The islands and beaches also fascinate the Australian, another medium haul market to visit Sabah. Besides island and beaches, Kinabalu Park is the other place product or attraction to the tourists from Australia.

Feedback from survey interviews with the inbound tour operators and hoteliers revealed that the primary and high yield markets for Sabah are the long haul market namely the British and European tourists particularly German, Swedish, French, Dutch and Italian. These market segments choose to visit Sabah because of nature and wildlife. Their places of interest include the Kinabalu Park, Poring Hot Spring especially the canopy walkway and  tropical  garden,  Sepilok  Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Selingan Turtle Island, Gomantong Cave, Sukau and Danum Valley. There are segments of tourists from Britain and Europe who come to Sabah to do bird watching and to relax and experience the tranquility of staying in a tropical forest reserve lodge or eco-lodge. There are also segments British and European tourists who come to Sabah for scuba diving and for soft adventure activities such as jungle trekking and nature walks. They like to walk and to enjoy the serenity of the environment of Kin Kinabalu Park, Poring Hot Spring and Sukau. There are niche markets from United Kingdom, Japan, United States of America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand who visit Sabah for a taste of nature sports and tough wild Borneo adventure activities such as mountain climbing and white water rafting.

It is interesting to note that many domestic tourists especially those who are from Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak visit Sabah for a taste of adventure, which is, climbing Mount Kinabalu in comparison to international tourists although Mount Kinabalu is featured extensively in most of the STPC's advertising and promotional materials. While, the residents and expatriates from The Federal Territory of Labuan and Brunei visit Sabah particularly the city of Kota Kinabalu for shopping and eating.

THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF SABAH

The inbound tour operators and hoteliers disclosed that most of the international tourists are pleased that the place products of Sabah meet up to the marketing communication message conveyed to them and their expectations. Most of the long haul tourists commented that they would like to see the wildlife and to explore the rainforest again if they were to visit Sabah for a second time. They will also recommend to their family, relatives and friends to visit Sabah.

The existing medium and long haul tourists are drawn to Sabah because of nature and wildlife. Therefore,  the  most  distinctive  competitive advantage of Sabah is her nature and wildlife tourism products. Sabah has many unexplored and highly potential tourism and eco-tourism sites. If the tourists were to explore the rainforest and forest reserves, they will feel that Sabah is still rule by natural forces besides feasting their eyes on a wide range of natural habitat and diverse flora and fauna which some can be found only in this destination. Thus, in order to sustain this distinctive competitive advantage, Sabah needs to explore and to expand her tourism products to attract and to repeat tourists.

Another competitive advantage of Sabah is the peaceful and quiet environment found on the islands and resorts. Tourists from Singapore and Scandinavian countries are especially attracted to the white sandy beaches and breathtaking clear blue sea where marine life can be observed from far without having to snorkel. It is worthwhile to mention that the tourism industry in Sabah is still at the introduction stage of the product life cycle therefore most of the islands and beaches are not overcrowded and effort has been made to conserve the islands in order to sustain this competitive advantage.

The forest conservation programs and projects implemented by the Sabah government, private and non-profitable organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia and Global Environment Facilities, United Nation Development Project, Danish Co-operation for Environment and Development is viewed as another competitive advantage to promote Sabah as an international tourist  destination.  Efforts  to  promote  the sustainable multiple-use of forest resources, to ensure the conservation of the bio-diversity and ecosystem and protection of habitats and wildlife and to encourage the sustainable development of tourism are crucial to avoid any abuse of the rich and potential tourism resources in Sabah.

One of the most common feedbacks from the international tourists is that the Sabahans are very friendly, helpful and hospitable. It is important to note that marketing a tourism destination is marketing place products and experience that is tangible and intangible. A tourism destination offers a combination of tangible and intangible products, a hybrid offer (Kotler and Armstrong, 1999) as a tourist experiences both (Palmer, 1994). Hence, the hospitality shown by the local people is a competitive advantage in particular to the domestic and short haul tourists as they come to Sabah to shop, to savor the seafood and to enjoy the comfort of luxurious hotels and resorts. Correspondingly, hospitality of the local people is also crucial to the medium and long haul markets as these tourists often explore the rainforest, forest reserves and wildlife sanctuaries that are located in the interior area within the vicinity of the villages of the indigenous people. Thus, it is of utmost important that the tourists feel safe, comfortable and welcome to visit these places? most of which located far from urban areas. The local people and staff of the food and lodging sectors managed to create a satisfactory experience to tourists who have visited Sabah.

THE POSSIBILITY OF POSITIONING AND MARKETING SABAH AS THE NORTHERN PART OF BORNEO COMPLIMENTING SARAWAK AND THE FEDERAL TERRITORY OF LABUAN ISLAND

Sabah, Sarawak and The Federal Territory of Labuan Island are the states of Malaysia located between borders in the northern part of Borneo Island. Each state has different history, indigenous groups, culture and heritage. The festivals, customs and traditions differ from one state to another.

Research findings showed that although Sabah and Sarawak promoted themselves as using the word "Malaysian Borneo", the positioning of both states are different from one another. The inbound tour operators and hoteliers in Sabah disclosed that while they promote Sabah as a destination for nature, adventure and wildlife, Sarawak focuses on culture, heritage, caves, longhouse and nature in their promotion to the international tourists. Sarawak is famous for caves namely Mulu Cave and Niah Cave, the Living Cultural Museum and the Iban Longhouse. On the other hand, The Federal Territory of Labuan positions herself as a destination for historical sites and scuba diving. The Federal Territory of Labuan is a prominent historical destination particularly to the Australian because of the World War II Memorial Park and the Surrender Point where the Commander of Japanese Army surrendered to the Australian Ninth Division in the year 1945. Besides, The Federal Territory of Labuan is also a popular diving site.

Survey interviews indicated that responses of inbound tour operators and hoteliers who are in favor and not in favor of Sabah to be jointly promoted with Sarawak and The Federal Territory of Labuan as the northern part of Borneo are mix. Many of those who are in favor of the joint promotion comprised of mostly tour operators have been operating between one and six years and the hoteliers. This group of tourism suppliers agreed that the three states should be promoted as the northern part of Borneo to have more place products to sell, to encourage mass tourists because it is more economical and value-for-money for the tourists to visit three different destination instead of one and it is cost effective in terms of advertising and promotion as the advertising and promotion expenditure can be shared if the three states were to be promoted together as one destination.

The length of stay of their existing target markets is the foremost reason why most of the tour operators who have been operating for more than seven years are not in favor to the notion. Many of the more mature tour operators are selling specialized nature and wildlife tour and diving packages. The average length of stay of their target markets is between seven and 15 days that are considered to be quite a long duration for the tourists. Therefore, their target markets will not have sufficient time to visit another destination besides Sabah. In addition, these tour operators are in the opinion that Sabah is still considered as a new destination to the international tourists in comparison  to  Sarawak  whereby  greater promotional effort has to be undertaken to increase international tourists' awareness of Sabah before the destination can be jointly promoted with another as one destination. Some of the tour operators do not think the idea is feasible as each state has different immigration rules and regulation where tourists have to get their passports stamped before entering into the other state though the three states are under the same sovereign country. It will be a hassle for them and the tourists.

CONCLUSION

Preliminary research findings found that the emphasis on the positioning of Sabah should be on nature, wildlife and value-for-money to the respective target markets. Likewise, the motivational factors underlying the purchasing decisions of various market segments correspond with the existing positioning strategy of Sabah. Greater effort should be undertaken to enhance the positioning and to conserve the nature-based place products in order to achieve the sustainable development of tourism in Sabah. This preliminary research has provided much information such as target market, the possibility to explore culture and agro-tourism as alternative tourism products for Sabah and the indication on the readiness of the state tourism suppliers to promote Sabah, Sarawak and The Federal Territory of Labuan as a single destination.

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