Headline :Backpackers heading here

NEW SUNDAY TIMES
Date :24/07/2005
Page :19
Byline :By R.S. Kamini
Type : News Feature

KUALA LUMPUR, Sat. - Backpackers Gauthier Sebastien and Buffard Aurelie are staggered by the variety of food found in Malaysia.
The French travellers have been having Malay specialties for breakfast,Indian cuisine for lunch and Chinese delights for dinner.
The fascinating variety of food has the shoe-string tourists hankering for more.
Sebastien and Aurelie, in their 20s, have also been taken aback by the plurality of the nation.
"In the month that we have been here, we have found the cultural mix simply amazing. Never have I seen so many different races living together in peace," said the duo who had also visited Turkey, Iran, Pakistan,India and China.
The backpackers have even learnt a little Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil along the way. "Moving around here is not a problem. People don't treat us differently as we try to adapt to the surroundings."
Their experience is similar to that of Andrew Allen and Amy Davies from the United Kingdom, who backpacked to Malaysia and fell in love with the east coast islands.
"We island-hopped from Perhentian to Redang to Lang Tengah. The thick green jungle and a beautiful world immersed by the turquoise- green water was simply breathtaking," said Allen.
The two, who had spent two weeks in Thailand and Singapore, had allocated five weeks for Malaysia.
"We have five weeks to experience the cities, country and sunny seaside in Malaysia with a budget of RM165 per day," said Allen.
"It was either Malaysia or Africa but we are glad that we settled for Malaysia," said Davies.
Canadians Madeline Speedy and Amanda Wilson, both 21, love Malaysia for its cultural diversity, food and shopping facilities.
"My parents are from Sabah. They had always told me how much Malaysia had developed from a small and poor country into this modern nation,"said Speedy.
"We have had a fair share of sweet and bitter experiences, but so far, we are enjoying everything here, especially our daily doses of roti canai and satay," added Wilson.
She added that travelling independently provided much more freedom than planned or packaged vacations.
For some backpackers though, a modern Malaysia was not exactly what they had in mind when they decided to travel here.
Briton Robert Cunning said Malaysia "was just too developed to enjoy travelling".
"I've been to other Southeast Asian countries and I enjoyed travelling in old and dirty buses with clucking chickens," he said.
The Malaysian Backpackers Association (ABM) has found budget travellers do play a role in bringing in the tourist dollar.
"When backpackers started coming into Malaysia in the early 1980s, few wanted to take note without realising that the backpacker market is worth tapping into," said ABM president Dr Wong Sai Hou.
He said the lack of tour packages appealing to backpackers and poor reception could turn them away from Malaysia.
"There are two types of backpackers, the seasonal and the avid.
Seasonal backpackers have their favourite time of the year to visit a country while avid backpackers are those who stay in a place for months," he said.
"The authorities could promote all highlands, lowlands and coastal areas in affordable packages as these are the areas most backpackers focus on," he said.
Wong estimated that, on the average, backpackers spent more than RM100,000 monthly.
"This is just an estimation because most backpackers travel on a tight budget and find ways to get the cheapest accommodation available," said Wong.
He said backpackers could be encouraged to spend double this amount if the authorities worked hand-in-hand with non-governmental organisations and private tour agencies.
As for Tourism Malaysia, it is currently collecting statistical data on Backpackers to market more products.
"We find a lot of young backpackers coming to Malaysia, mostly in search of eco-adventures.
"So we are trying to develop and promote packages that include the rainforest, wildlife and islands," said its director-general Kamaruddin Siaraf.
The independent travellers, he said, looked for tours that were not necessarily cheap but were good value for money.
"We know for a fact that backpacking is a potential market, since cheap motels and inns are mushrooming in the country."
(END)